Fractured Zodiac
by TigressJade
Summary: Three-year-old Kyo Sohma and his mother leave Tokyo to escape the hold of the Sohma family. They end up being taken in by the Honda's and Kyo is raised separately from the rest of the zodiac. Eventual Kyo/Yuki.
1. Part 1

_Author's Note:_ I've been wanting to write a Fruits Basket AU. for a while and this story became sort of a summer project for me. The parts of the manga involving Kyo's mother and the Kyo's own final thoughts about her at the end have always fascinated me. So I thought about the manga's description of Kyo's life with her and tried to come up with an explanation as to why she behaved the way she did. It wasn't very difficult considering how the Sohma family treated anyone with the Cat's curse.

This fic is completely AU. as it alters Kyo's life entirely and he grows up separated from the rest of the zodiac. I will also put out the warning right now that this fic will contain Yaoi. So if it doesn't appeal to your tastes, I'd advise against reading this.

Otherwise, I hope you all enjoy the story.

* * *

Hisako Sohma was a mess, both physically and mentally. She shifted slightly as she knelt on the floor, tears flowing freely from beneath burnished brown eyes. Her long dust brown hair loosely encircled her face, hiding it from view. During the night she and her husband Tanjiro Sohma had quarreled. The dispute had ended with Tanjiro leaving for work, while Hisako remained on the floor in a disheveled heap. Her life was not simple, nor was it traditional. Once her life's ambition had been to marry well and become a mother. She wanted several children, wanted to hear their laughter as they played in the yard, told her stories, chased butterflies, and all the things that children were supposed to do. Unfortunately, her first child had been rather unusual, so much so that the family had advised her not to have anymore as her womb was considered cursed. Kyo Sohma had been born under the sign of the cat and as such, was cursed to transform into the creature when he came into contact with a member of the opposite sex. Even his own mother.

Hisako was extremely protective of her orange haired son. She protected him from his father, members of his own clan, and anyone from the outside world. They'd argued about Kyo and whether or not they should keep him or hand him over to the Sohma main house to be dealt with as the members of the Sohma main branch saw fit. It had been a reoccurring argument ever since their son's birth three years before. Her position in the Sohma clan was not to be envied. She and Kyo were shunned by everyone, even those who didn't know of the zodiac curse.

She never-never let Kyo go outside, she was afraid of what his own family would do to him. Always making sure to tell him that she loved him and how proud she was of him, she kept him in the house under her watchful eye. Everyday her son would look longingly outside the window, she wanted to be able to let him out. Children should be able to run around and play, it was in their nature. It was how she's spent her own childhood and this, this was not the environment in which to raise a child, particularly not one as special as her Kyo.

Slowly she got to her feet and went to find her son. Hisako had always been meticulous about checking her son's bracelet of Juzu beads. The beads had been blessed and were made from the bones of a honorable priest. It was even rumored that the beads themselves had been dyed with the priest's blood to enhance their ability to prevent the emergence the cat's true form. Kyo not only transformed into a cat, he also possessed an even fiercer demonic form that was said to be the cat's vengeful spirit. The cat had not been allowed to attend the zodiac feast and had grown bitter, hating the other animals, particularly the rat, for leaving him out of the feast. This was not true of course, the other animals had simply forgotten him and the rat had tricked the cat into thinking that the feast was elsewhere. That did not change the fact that the cat's true form smelled like a rotting corpse and proceeded to drive anyone away with an even more grotesque appearance.

Hisako knew that if she did not leave now, she would regret it. Her mother still lived in Hokkaido. She would go there and take Kyo with her. She had to, or risk losing her mind being around the Sohmas any longer. Akito Sohma would take great displeasure in her departure with a member of "his" zodiac, she knew. It was best to make a quick getaway. Her thoughts were moving farther toward paranoia every day. She worried that these feelings would eventually become something more dangerous, possibly even suicidal. Her thoughts had strayed to that once, when she'd been standing on a train platform with her husband.

Tanjiro Sohma was verbally abusive and his clan was utterly unacceptable. Despite her instincts to stay and wait it out for Kyo's sake, in hopes that he might one day gain the acceptance of his clan and a place in the main house, she was sure that this was the best thing for both her and Kyo. Every part of her was screaming that this was not what a proper Japanese woman was supposed to do. There was a chance that her mother would also scorn her for leaving her husband.

Sighing deeply, Hisako found Kyo in the sitting room and checked that the Juzu beads were secure around his wrist. The boy looked up at her with a decidedly blank expression on his face. This saddened her, it would seem that life within the Sohma family was having an even more adverse effect on him. She just hoped the emotional damage was still reversible at this stage.

Half an hour later, Hisako and Kyo Sohma were standing on a train platform. She had an ominous feeling as she looked down at the sodden metal tracks. They were the same ones she'd thought about diving onto a few months before.

Shaking her head and setting her jaw firmly, Hisako grasped her son's hand tightly and waited for the train. The suitcase in her other hand was heavily laden food, drink and clothing, mostly Kyo's. Clothing for young children was expensive, so they'd have to make do with what she'd managed to fit in the bag, until she could make more.

She had taken just enough money for train tickets and several nights stay in a hotel, in case there were any serious weather delays along the coast. They would have to change trains in Sendai.

Waitressing, she'd have to waitress and help her mother keep up the small old house in which she lived. Himeko Mizushima would demand it of her daughter as well as most of the housework and culinary tasks. Nothing Hisako couldn't handle as long as she could be rid of the Sohma's and their zodiac.

Kimiko would certainly question why her daughter had left her husband, but she would not turn her away, her own mother having been once a man's concubine. If it was for Kyo's safety, Hisako knew that her mother would understand. She had a soft spot for children and Kyo was after all her only grandchild.

Kyo could go to school. Hisako could cut her hair and stop hiding away from the world beneath its tangled locks. She could talk to Kyo without feeling as though her every move was being judged. Of course, she would have to explain to her mother why she couldn't hug her grandson. Kimiko was a believer in spirits both good and evil and she visited the local temple quite frequently. It would be simpler to tell her that Kyo was simply possessed by an evil spirit, but that would leave out the reason she'd left in the first place. Her mother would accept Kyo's condition, but it would take considerable effort to convince her not to experiment with trying to cure him of said curse. It was worth it, she told herself, they would be free at long last.

Hisako and Kyo boarded the train for Hokkaido and didn't look back.

"Mom, where are we going?"

Hisako smiled at him.

"Home, sweetie. We're going home to Hokkaido to live with your grandmother."

Kyo blinked and looked up at her inquisitively.

"But, what about father?"

She simply replied, "We're leaving without him."

"Oh. So, there won't be any more yelling. And, and, he won't hurt you anymore. Will he?"

"No, sweetie. Hopefully you'll never have to see him again. Just, don't tell anyone about your bracelet or your 'cat problem' okay? You can't tell anyone about it, except your grandmother."

Kyo nodded thoughtfully, unsure of what all of this meant for him. He had never liked his father. The man was tall, dark and scary and he was always yelling at Mom and making her cry. Kyo only wanted his mother to be happy. He wanted to go to a place where no one would hate him too. Maybe, maybe he could find such a place and take his mother there. Someday he would, but for now, Hokkaido would do he guessed, wherever that was. As a child of three, his mind couldn't fathom the height of his family's hatred for him, so he'd only seen his parent's fractious relationship. The only thing he would really remember about the Sohma's in the months to come would the way that strange gray haired boy in the hakama had stared at Kyo from across the yard at the Sohma house. Those purple eyes tinted with curiosity had seen the cat and not given him a casual look of distain or disgust. Kyo wondered why it was the strange boy had kept staring at him so.

Hisako had managed to find a reasonably priced hotel and was now in possession of her room key. Her and Kyo would catch a train for Hokkaido in the morning. She had opted to get off at the Akita stop rather than the one in Sendai, because it was closer to their final destination.

Unfortunately, Hisako had gotten the wrong room at first. The man in the room across the hall, a tall man in his early twenties, with light brown hair and seemingly kind eyes dressed in light blue night clothes, had been woken by her attempts to open the door's disagreeable lock. When the young man opened the door catching Hisako completely by surprised, much to her son's amusement, she had apologized and looked down at her room key.

"My sincerest apologies sir" Hisako managed as she fumbled with the room key "it appears that our room is 412, not 415, I was mistaken."

Katsuya Honda looked down at the apprehensive young woman in front of him, a child at her right, holding her hand and giggling slightly at his mother's initial confusion. He smiled politely and shrugged at her. Her nervous demeanor and the fact that she was travelling alone with a young child suggested that the woman had other things on her mind and had simply misread her room number.

"It's fine" he told her "I-" and then he coughed harshly and Hisako noticed how pale he was. She was about to suggest that he see someone about his illness when, the man collapsed on top of her. Kyo was quick to call for help as his mother tried to support Katsuya's unconscious body. She managed to wedge herself against the doorframe in order to hold herself up until the hotel staff came and two men lifted him off of her.

As a result, Hisako and Kyo spent the night in the hospital with the man. His identification named him as one, Katsuya Honda, a businessman for Narita Pharmaceuticals. His wallet also contained a small photograph showing him, and presumably his wife and young daughter, who looked to be about Kyo's age.

Hisako had insisted on waiting with the man until his family arrived and the doctor's had accommodated her wishes thus far. She sat in a small chair beside his bed with Kyo perched beside her on the armrest. The doctor's had told her that the man had pneumonia and had she not accidentally woken him, the disease might very well have killed him in his current state.

"Is he going to be alright, Mom?" Kyo asked in a small voice.

Hisako patted his head gently, hoping to offer some source of comfort.

"I don't know, sweetie. We'll have to see what the doctor's say. His family will be coming tomorrow, they said. We'll know then" she answered, hoping that Katsuya's wife would get there soon and be able to take over watching after her husband.

As it was, Hisako was glad she'd held off buying tomorrow's train tickets. She couldn't hold out for too much longer though, she had to get far away before either her husband or the head of the Sohma clan could figure out where she'd gone. The hotel had only been safe, because she'd paid cash for their rooms and used a false name. It wouldn't be long before inquiries about a woman and her orange haired child traveling by train got around to certain people. Her and Kyo had to be on the island by the time that happened.

* * *

Kyoko Honda had boarded a train to Akita that night with an overwhelming dread that her husband might already be dead by the time she reached him. Her daughter Tohru was in one arm and a hastily packed bag of clothing and necessities were in the other. It was fortunate that Katsuya had been admitted to the Akitadai Hospital owing to the severity of his condition. Japan's centralized health care system was at times difficult to maneuver and patients were not always admitted to facilities as quickly as needed for treatment.

Katsuya's employer Narita Pharmaceuticals did ensure that its associates received paid health care benefits, and the promise of payment usually resulted in the satisfactory treatment of said patient. Kyoko's main concern was that her husband's seemingly harmless cold had become a full blown case of pneumonia that could very well kill him. She'd been told that a woman staying in the same hotel had noticed him collapse in the hallway and alerted the staff who swiftly sent him off to the nearby hospital to be examined. He could very well have died at the hotel if he'd gone to sleep after getting off the phone with her. She dreaded to what would have happened if she and Tohru had lost Katsuya so suddenly. Kyoko made a note to call Toto-san as soon as she reached the hospital and was apprised of Katsuya's condition.

"My name is Honda Kyoko, I'm here for my husband" she told the nurse requesting admittance "Is it alright if I bring Tohru in there? I couldn't leave her. There was no one else to take her at this time of night."

A stout nurse with short brown hair nodded to her and picked up a clipboard and handed it to Kyoko.

"We need to know some specifics, if you wouldn't mind" the nurse insisted politely "we need to know if your husband has any known allergies to medications or food of any kind. His doctor's office in Tokyo has been notified of his condition, but we won't be able to retrieve any further medical records until tomorrow. He was tested immediately upon arrival and all signs pointed to a severe case of pneumonia. In accordance with the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases, your husband will not be allowed to leave this hospital until has fully recovered from the disease. Do you understand, Mrs. Honda?"

Kyoko nodded. She was relieved that he was still alive and being treated for his condition. She filled out the forms and used the hospital phone to call Toto-san to let him know about Katsuya's illness. When she was finally able to see him, she found that Katsuya was being watched after by a strange young woman accompanied by a young boy with orange hair. The woman turned her head as they approached, causing her blonde hair to hang over her shoulder. She gathered up her shawl and stood and bowed to Kyoko.

"You must be Mrs. Honda" the woman said "I am Sohma Hisako and this" she gestured to the small boy still perched on the arm of the chair "is my son Kyo. We have been looking after your husband ever since the incident at the hotel."

"You're the one who found him" Kyoko said her surprised expression changing to one of understanding "Thank you for looking after him. I was quite worried when I got the call that he had collapsed."

"We woke him accidentally, I'm afraid I was in a bit of a rush to find our room for the night and mistook your husband's room for mine" Hisako said "He accepted my apology for waking him and then he, I thought he looked pale and was about to ask if he was alright, when he collapsed. Luckily some of the hotel staff were nearby and managed to help me carry him downstairs. I was worried that he had died. Fortunately this was not so."

Kyoko nodded and held out a hand to the woman.

"I am Honda Kyoko and this is my daughter Honda Tohru."

Hisako stepped over to her and shook her hand. It was nice to meet someone outside of the Sohma family. She had been so isolate for the past few years since Kyo's birth and little if any of her interaction with her husband's family had been positive. After Kyo's arrival Hisako had been met with an eerie silence and some pointed remarks made behind her back. It was nice, meeting normal people again, who didn't openly hate her son's very existence.

Kyoko and her daughter walked slowly over to Katsuya's bedside and Tohru eyed her father's unconscious form with little understanding of why he was here.

"Your father's sick Tohru" Kyoko told Tohru "he's going to be here for a while. We'll have to go back and forth from here to Tokyo for a while so you don't miss school. He's going to get better. He's-he's going to be fine. The doctors are taking care of him."

Hisako considered the impact of travelling back and forth daily would have on Kyoko and her daughter. The money she had with her was enough to feasibly stay at the hotel another week or so and she decided that she would. Katsuya obviously needed looking after and Kyoko was a young woman like herself, responsible for both the well being of her household and that of a small child. If she stayed it meant that Hisako would have no money to give her mother for rent until she got a job, but at least it would allow her to stay hidden from the Sohmas for a bit longer. There was little doubt in her mind that the head of the Sohma clan would contact her mother when the news of her disappearance reached him. If they searched her mother's home and didn't find them, then it would be easier for her to hide in Hokkaido after the fact. Kimiko would understand if given prior warning. It also gave Hisako a chance to inquire about possible employment in the area if there was none to be had in Hokkaido.

"Mrs. Honda -"

"Please, you can call me Kyoko."

"Okay then, Kyoko. I and my son will be staying at the hotel in town for the next couple of weeks, while I handle some business. I would like to offer my services. I will look after your husband while you are away in Tokyo and notify you of any changes. I do not mean to impose on you, I am simply in town and wish to-"

Kyoko hugged her, which took Hisako by surprise. She did not realize that very few people had been kind to Kyoko during the course of her life. The events of her youth had jaded her and she had long believed that people only existed to cause her pain. The appearance of Katsuya and Tohru had severely altered her beliefs and at the worst possible moment in her married life a stranger offering her such kindness was a shock.

"You, you would really do that. Are you sure?" Kyoko asked her "I would be here almost every day, except I have the house to worry about and Tohru's in school. I'd only need you to check in on him for a couple of hours each day. Just to see that he's alright. I'll see that the nurses allow you to come and go."

Hisako agreed.

Tohru and Kyo were now standing side by side at the edge of the hospital bed. Kyo having relinquished his perch to stand by the girl. It had been seldom that he'd seen a child his age and now he found himself unsure of what to say.

The small girl smiled at him, her short olive-brown hair framing her face. Kyo smiled back. No other child had ever looked at him that way, like she was just happy he was here.

"I'm Tohru Hon'a" she said.

"I-I'm Kyo Soh-ma" he replied.

"Orange" Tohru said pointing to him "you're orange."

Kyo fingered his hair nervously.

"Orange" she said again and laughed "I like orange."

Kyo smiled at that. He liked this girl. She and her mother were nothing like his nameless grim-faced relatives.

* * *

The disappearance of the cat meant a break in the traditions the Sohma family had held to for many generations. Akito had felt a weakening of the already thin bond between him and the cat. The weakness of the bond had always been a testament to the cat's exclusion from the zodiac and the banquet. Now it meant Akito's control over the cursed was incomplete.

He was convinced that now with the cat gone, other members of the zodiac might try to leave, might discover that they _could_ leave.

"What does he mean _the cat _has_ disappeared!_" Akito wanted to know. "How _did_ he lose track of such a creature and his own wife at the same time?"

Kureno had brought the news to Akito's chambers during one of his visits with Shigure. The dog for his part appeared very annoyed at the interruption.

"I don't know" Kureno admitted. "His father claims that any evidence of his wife and son's existence vanished within the house along with them."

"That creature needs to be under our-my control" Akito emphasized. "It could do irreparable damage if he were not returned to me."

"We can't afford to draw attention to ourselves" Kureno cautioned, ignoring the bland look Shigure gave him. "But we can't allow the boy to be found out. It could be a danger to everyone including him."

"Seeing as how Hari can't erase the memories of everyone the cat simultaneously comes across, I suggest we use other means to find them" Shigure suggested.

"And what could that be I wonder?" Akito asked in a dangerous tone that boded ill for Shigure if he answered wrong.

"Using the police would be too troublesome for us, especially if the cat's secret is discovered. So why wouldn't we hire someone discreet to find them instead? There are people within the family, loyal to you, who could help with that."

"Wouldn't you know if he were close?" Kureno asked, almost innocently.

Akito turned to him with an unreadable expression and said in cool voice "That does not allow me to find its exact location away from me."

Shigure raised an eyebrow at that revelation. So Akito couldn't sense the cat unless it was in close proximity? Now that was something that interested him. He wondered if Akito's connection to the cat was similar to his link with the rest of the cursed or if the cat, being left out of the zodiac allowed him a certain amount of anonymity from their god's abilities.

* * *

Hisako and Kyo continued to stay at the hotel for the next couple of weeks while Hisako searched for employment. Kyoko and her daughter went back and forth from Tokyo to Akita every other day. Katsuya's health improved gradually and on the fifth day of his hospitalization he regained consciousness. Kyoko and Tohru were notified immediately by Hisako and the Hondas were able to spend a few hours happily together before visiting hours came to an end. Katsuya was allowed to rest and the four of them went home for the night. Hisako offered the use of her extra bed in her hotel room to Kyoko and Tohru so the pair could leave quickly the next morning. They would return on Friday and spend the weekend in Akita with Katsuya.

Tokihiko Honda arrived at the Akita train station on Saturday afternoon and slowly made his way to Akitadai Hospital. His daughter Raiko and her husband refused to visit Katsuya in the presence of his wife Kyoko, so he had made the trip alone. Ever since the death of his wife, Tikihiko or Toto-san as his family called him, had made the effort to stay close to all members of his family. He merely shook his head at his daughter and son-in-law's actions knowing they could never look past Kyoko's past as a Yankee to the woman she really was.

As Tokihiko entered hospital room 215 and Kyoko rushed toward him.

"Toto-san. You're here" she said bowing politely before embracing her father-in-law.

Tokihiko smiled lightly as Kyoko released him and led him over to the bed. Katsuya Honda greeted his father with optimistic expression and the two talked for while. Tokihiko was surprised to learn that he had almost lost his son to the pneumonia. It would have been such a tragedy to lose a man so young. He would have left Tohru without a father and Kyoko without a husband.

"Who is this Hisako?" Tokihiko asked politely "You say she's here by herself with a young child."

"Yes Toto-san, she says she's here looking for employment" Kyoko replied "she never mentioned why she was here alone."

"She's nervous, Father. I noticed it that night at the hotel" Katsuya said "she seems as if she's running from the world. Her mannerisms would suggest that she has not had a happy life. I noticed a scar just above her hairline near the left ear. There's another one on her right shoulder as well, she always flinches a bit on that side when she fixes her shawl."

Kyoko nodded. She too had noticed the tiny hints as to the reason Hisako had left wherever she had come from. The world had not been kind to her and it was most likely her husband who was responsible for her current state. It was a miracle that the woman had still had the sense to leave with her child and find a life elsewhere. Kyoko understood how difficult it could be to escape the past.

"I am in need of a housekeeper" Katsuya's father mused "if this woman truly needs to escape her life, I could keep her with me. I don't like the idea of a young boy growing up without a stable environment. The child should be able to go to school and his mother to have a reasonable job, while still having a roof over their heads."

"Are you sure, Toto-san? We don't know her very well" Kyoko said uncertainly "I'm sure she means no harm. We just don't know if her husband is one of the yakuza."

Katsuya nodded.

"We will ask her" he said "though I suspect her story is much like yours, Ms. No Eyebrows. She may simply be trying to escape her family or her husband's."

Hisako came through the door with Kyo at her side to find the three adults staring at her.

"Hisako, this is my father Honda Tokihiko" Katsuya said introducing him "Father this is Sohma Hisako."

Tokihiko and Hisako bowed politely to one another and she and Kyo approached the others. Kyo and Tohru went off to a corner of the room to play with a set of blocks Kyoko had brought with them from Tokyo.

"Sohma" Tokihiko said thoughtfully "are you related to the Sohma clan of Tokyo?"

Hisako froze and her expression became one of extreme worry.

"It is fine Hisako. I simply wanted to be sure that you were not a member of the underground" Tokihiko said reassuringly "We know that you are running away from someone and I understand that the Sohmas are a rather strange family. If you will excuse my assumptions."

Hisako nodded, her demeanor still tense.

"I would like to offer you a position within my household. You and your son are in need of a place to live and I am in need of a housekeeper, since my daughter and her family are currently unable to move in with me. Would you do me the honor of keeping an old man company in West Tokyo. You would rarely ever have to leave the house and your son could attend school a safe distance from the clan."

Hisako's expression was one of shock. These people were not going to turn her in it seemed. The older man had just offered her a position within his household and offered to keep her a secret. Kyo could attend school in the city without the Sohmas knowing he was there.

"I do not believe they would search the city for me" Hisako answered carefully "I was headed for Hokkaido, where my mother lives. My husband and I disagreed about Kyo. He wanted to disown him."

Kyoko and Katsuya looked shocked at her admission. It was inconceivable to disown a three year old child. A child had little sense of action or honor. There was no reason for such a severe punishment to be put on him whatever actions he had committed.

Katsuya's father however did not look surprised.

"Why?" he asked furtively "My family has lived in Tokyo for generations and we had often observed that the Sohmas lived strangely. There were always several children with hair tinted with odd tones at school, even in my time. The child with the orange hair was often alone. He was never with the others. Your child, is he the same?"

Hisako nodded and walked over to Kyo. She held him and he transformed.

"He is the cat in the family zodiac" Hisako explained to the surprised Hondas "because of the old legend the other members of his family look down on him. Several children in each generation fifty to seventy years apart are cursed to change form when touched by a member of the opposite gender. It does not matter that I am his mother, if I hold him or hug him, Kyo will transform into the cat." She put her hand on his bracelet. "He must also never take off this bracelet or he will transform into a dark version of the cat. Only his body is changed each time, his mind is still there, but his family refused to believe this. Every cat must wear the Juzu beads. They must also be locked away at the age of eighteen in room at the edge of Sohma house where they will stay for the rest of their lives."

Katsuya's father recovered before Katsuya and Kyoko and nodded sadly.

"So that is what happened to the child I saw when I was in school." he said "Since the beads are passed down, the other cat must die before a new cat can be born. Is this true of all the cursed members of the Sohma family, Hisako?"

Hisako nodded in affirmation.

"Yes, only once a member of the zodiac has died can another with the same curse be born. Kyo was born fifteen years after the death of the cursed boy you knew, Mr. Honda."

"That's why you need to hide him isn't it, Hisako" Katsuya said.

"How could they do such a thing?" Kyoko said outraged. "Kyo's only a child."

"Nonetheless he is the cat of the Sohma zodiac and the clan leader Akito is their zodiac's version of god" Hisako explained "it is the Sohma god's privilege to lock the cat away in order to make the others feel less trapped by their curse."

"They use the cat as their scapegoat. Not a very refined bunch are they?" Katsuya mused.

"It is your secret, Hisako" Katsuya's father said "we will not tell anyone. We can include you in the clan role as a Honda so that you may have the name for everyday use. It is all I can give you."

Hisako smiled. She and Kyo would be able to call themselves Honda rather than Sohma. It would be an effective disguise. She would make sure to dye orange hair a black or a simple brown to ensure that he would not be recognized as the cat by the Sohmas.

"Thank you" she said "I am very grateful Honda-san, that you would do this for Kyo and I. He will be able to live a normal life. It is what I had hoped for him, when we left the Sohmas. It would please me to use the name Honda so that we can hide from my husband's family. I am ever in your debt, Honda Tokihiko."

"I am an old man" Tokihiko said "I do not wish to burden others with my troubles. You are the same. We will get along very well. It will do an old man some good to have company once in a while."

Katsuya smiled lightly.

"Don't worry" he said "my wife is a former Yankee. Her past is way more interesting than yours. She used to shave her eyebrows back in middle school."

Kyoko smacked her husband lightly on the shoulder.

"You know why I did that" she said highly annoyed "I had to."

"My little Red Butterfly" Katsuya said in agreement "it was easy to pick you out of a crowd."

His wife glared at him.

"At least I wasn't a smart ass student teacher, those other girls followed you around like dogs. But really you were just as cynical as the rest of us."

Tokihiko smiled at them. His son and daughter-in-law were always so lively. They made his otherwise quiet life very interesting indeed. Kyo transformed back, shielded from view by his mother's shawl and Hisako turned and dressed him again. Tohru walked up to grandfather and he put his arm around her shoulders giving her a sideways hug.

"Welcome to family, Hisako" he said "I'm sure you'll get used to all of us in time."

* * *

News of a tsunami hitting Akita's coastal area as well several other minor disasters corresponded with Kyo's adoption into the Honda family. Traditionally all zodiac members were re-registered under the name Sohma as soon as the presence of their curse was confirmed at birth. This ensured their permanent association with the family and strengthened their bond with the god of the zodiac.

Kyo's already tentative bond with Akito was frayed even more and the god of the zodiac was unable to tell if the cat still lived.

"It's dead" Akito declared to Hatori a few weeks later. Then he ordered the house staff to "have the cat's register changed".

"Are you sure that's wise, Akito?" Hatori commented lightly.

"You shouldn't question my decisions, Hatori" Akito warned. "But if you truly want to know. It's because that woman wouldn't have been able to hide such a disgusting creature for long. He's too distinct to go unnoticed, unhated, by others."

"I understand" Hatori replied trying to ease the tension.

_They'll see now,_ Akito thought. _They all see that if they leave nothing awaits them outside of these walls. There is only me and our bond. My wish will come true._

Hatori had his own theories on the disappearance of Hisako and Kyo Sohma, but kept them to himself. If there had ever been a child more ridiculed, more persecuted, in the history of the Sohma clan, it was the cat. There was no future for Kyo Sohma if he was ever returned to them, none except his confinement. So Hatori kept quiet with the realization that the cat was better off growing up in an isolated fishing village or impoverished in a one-room apartment somewhere, than being forced to bear such a burden.

_Children shouldn't be born to suffer,_ Hatori thought. _What would be the point of such an existence?_

* * *

"You are now a member of my family, so you may call me Toto-san, Hisak-Hisano " Tokihiko told her when they arrived at his home.

After talking about it, the two of them had decided that Hisako should change her name to Hisano to avoid any immediate suspicion by Tokihiko's friends or family.

Then he looked to Kyo and said "And you can call me grandfather."

At the boy's stunned expression, Tokihiko smiled encouragingly and patted him on the head.

The household of Tokihiko Honda was a quiet one and the arrival of Hisako Sohma and her son Kyo had changed this for the better. Tokihiko found that having a child around again made him feel quite a bit younger and having a lovely young woman around didn't hurt either. Hisako was a good housekeeper and she ensured that everything in his household was well taken care of. She was also an excellent cook. Tokihiko particularly loved her recipe for soba.

"I'm afraid in the years since my wife passed, I've not felt the same as I once did" Tokihiko explained "these old bones aren't what they used to be."

"That is why I am here" Hisako said as she set about making dinner while Kyo played on the floor, "So please, do not worry yourself about the simple around house any longer, Toto-san."

"Thank you, Hisano, if I didn't know any better, I'd suspect my son and daughter-in-law were worried about me as well" Tokihiko said with a simple smile, that belayed a perceptive undercurrent no doubt gained through many years of observing his own students.

"And your daughter I am sure" Hisako added. "Though I've not met her yet."

"You will eventually" Tokihiko confirmed. "It's just that she and Kyoko don't get along very well, so they usually avoid one another. You see my daughter and her husband disapproved of Katsuya's marriage to Kyoko, as did several of my own siblings."

Hisako's eyes widened slightly. It seemed strange to her that someone as lively and pleasant as Kyoko could be looked down on by the rest of the Honda family.

"So you see, Hisano, yourself and Kyo are in good company" Tokihiko continued, giving her a wink, "we're not the usual sort of people."

"Thank you, Toto-san, I've not received any such sentiments from those I consider family for a very long time, save Kyo" Hisako replied.

"And on that note, how do you feel about making that delicious soba twice a week?" the old man asked hopefully, "I don't think I've ever tasted any that good before."

"Then we will" his housekeeper said, the corners of her mouth quirking upward as she tried to hide her amusement, "but I promised Katsuya that you would eat more than just noodles, Toto-san. So you'll have to eat your miso as well."

"I will have to invite my son over on those nights" Tokihiko said "we wouldn't want him falling ill again and miso soup can do wonders for a person's health"

"Katsuya doesn't like miso very much, does he?"

"No" the old man confirmed. "We'll set aside another dish for him to have, but it won't hurt him to think that I've simply forgotten his dislike."

"You want Katsuya to think you're forgetting things?" Hisako asked, slightly bewildered.

"Ever since his marriage my son has started speaking to me again, not as the polite little boy who would put on an act in front of others, but as himself. He feels able to do so, because he believes that my age and the death of my wife have weakened me so that I am less likely to judge himself and his family."

Tokihiko let out a breath before continuing.

"This is not so, Minawa's death helped me realize that I wanted my family around me regardless of whether or not they did as I'd wished them to. That is why, when Katsuya brought Kyoko to meet me, I was determined to support their marriage even if I myself did not agree with my son's decision."

"But you like Kyoko " Hisako insisted.

"I do, and I love little Tohru very much. I grew to like Kyoko from the moment I met her and this only proved to me that my opinion, however right and honorable it may seem, may not always be so. So I forget things and act as though I need more help than I do, so that my son may be himself around me."

Hisako nodded. She understood that reasoning very well. If she hadn't changed her own perspective for Kyo's sake, the two of them would still be back with the Sohma's. Kyo would lived his life in fear of a locked room and Hisako was not sure she could have lived with waiting for such a sorrowful end to her son's young life. She knew deep in her heart, that if she'd stayed in that house, the desire to end her own anxieties over Kyo's future would have overcome her long before the Sohma actually locked the cat away for good.

"I wonder that your own mother doesn't worry for you, Hisano " Tokihiko mused. "She must know you are gone by now."

"I thought about writing her a letter, Toto-san, but I'd rather not risk Kyo that way" she replied. "I haven't spoken to my mother very often since I left home."

"I'm sorry Hisako-san, I didn't mean to pry. Please forgive an old man his oddities" her employer said.

"I appreciate your concern, but the more I think about it, I'm glad I did not return to my mother's house with Kyo. There's a great chance she would have turned us in if the Sohma did report Kyo missing. She wouldn't approve of the fact that I left my husband, when she herself could not find one."

"Ah, I understand" Tokihiko said and asked no more about it.

"So, in my place, could you send a quarter of what I earn here to her in Hokkaido. I want to be sure she is taken care of, even though I can no longer see her."

The next day Tokihiko had his solicitor wire an anonymous, but reasonable amount of yen to "old friend" named Himeko Mizushima in Hokkaido to help with her living expenses. His solicitor was discreet as usual and didn't even question Tokihiko's new addition to the clan roll.

Tokihiko half expected there to be a missing persons report filed for the disappearance of Hisako and Kyo within the next few weeks. However, he suspected the Sohma family wouldn't want to draw any attention to Kyo's curse and wouldn't risk discovery by drawing the attention of law enforcement and the news media. Hisako had made it very clear that the family feared discovery above all else and the zodiac itself had an individual capable of erasing a person's memories in the case of isolated incidents.

Tokihiko knew that a national search for a missing child would cause too much of a stir for a family so embedded in secrecy. The chances of Kyo transforming into a cat in front of a camera was all the more likely the Sohma called for a nationwide search. No, Tokihiko knew it was more logical for the them to hire private investigators to track down Hisako and Kyo.

This proved true in the coming weeks when the pair's disappearance went unreported by the Sohma family. In order to keep any private investigators from discovering them, Hisako changed her name to Hisano, and it they decided to explain Kyo's name as a homage to that of his Aunt Kyoko.

Later at home that night Hisako brought him the last of the pictures and documents she'd taken from her old home. She had made sure to take Kyo's birth certificate, her own forms of identification, and the only existing physical copy of her marriage license.

"These are the only others" she said as she handed the bundle to Tokihiko to lock away in his safe. The last two small photographs were of herself and Kyo as well as the small number of pictures taken during hers and Tanjiro's wedding ceremony. "I made sure to take them with me when I left."

"I will ensure that my son has a copy of the combination in case anything should happen." Tokihiko assured her. "That way my daughter cannot question you about its contents. She will simply assume that the papers are Katsuya's."

Raiko and the rest of the Honda family had lead to believe that Hisako was the disowned daughter of an old friend of Tokihiko's. Her parents had supposedly disapproved of her marriage, which had left her with no place to go when her husband walked out on her and their child.

Hisako nodded.

"I appreciate all that you and your solicitor have done for us Toto-san. Please let me know if there is any way I can ever repay your kindness."

"You already have" Tokihiko explained. "You saved the life of my son and you have made it so that I may still live here in my old age. I fear that in a few years I will be unable to live alone and would have been forced to be a burden upon my children otherwise."

"I doubt your children would see you as a burden Toto-san" Hisako stated. "You are the most amiable person I've ever lived with."

"I was not always that way" the old man said wistfully. "In my youth I was just as disagreeable as everyone else."

* * *

"Father, I know that she is your friend's daughter, but don't you think letting her live with you is a little excessive?" Raiko demanded, highly suspicious of her father's new housemates. "You've even given the boy the name Honda. He should be using the surname his father gave him instead."

Tokihiko smiled placating at his daughter.

"Hisano is an excellent housekeeper and as to why I included them in our family scroll, I did not want the boy to grow up with the name of the father who left him" he explained.

"Yes and by doing that you've allowed that woman and her son to claim an inheritance from you" Raiko pressed. "There was no need. You already have a Honda grandson to carry on your name."

"If you are worried about what you and your children will receive upon my death, Raiko, than you need not worry" her father said with a sigh. "I've made arrangements so that Hisano can receive proper compensation for her work here, as is her due, and to ensure that Kyo can afford to attend high school with Tohru when the time comes."

"That is acceptable I suppose" his daughter replied, tone belaying her further annoyance with this development. She felt the extra money would have been best suited to helping her son, Tetsuo enter the police academy after he finished school. "I shouldn't think you'd approve of such a match, since Tohru no doubt has certain similarities to Kyoko-san."

"They are both very lively" Tokihiko agreed, to his daughter's further exasperation. "Though I believe it will be a long time before either Tohru or Kyo come to such a decision. There are many more people they will meet in their young lives before they choose whom will be their most precious person."

* * *

Kyo had proven to be a quiet boy who seemed quite content to be living with his mother and the old man he now knew as "grandfather". The boy seemed to sense the amity of this house contrary to that of Sohma house. He had lived in fear of someone removing his black and white beaded bracelet and discovering the horrible truth about his true form. Every morning Kyo watched as his mother still checked his wrist to make sure it was still there. Hisako did so now with a smile, rather than a shadowy grimace. To Kyo the bracelet now served as a reminder of the life he had left. The life where his father yelled at his mother every night and people looked at him with those strange expressions on their faces and whispered about him behind his back.

"Are we safe here, Mom?" Kyo had asked Hisako the first night in their new home.

"Yes my dearest son, we are finally safe" his mother answered as she drew him into her arms. Despite his abrupt transformation into a little orange ball of a kitten, she continued to hold him tight. Safe in the knowledge that no one here would look down on her for doing so. At their old home Hisako had been afraid of doing anything that might cause Kyo to transform into the cat, because it would further remind her husband and in-laws of the meaning behind his designation in the zodiac.

"This will be a new life for both of us" she said softly, her breath tickling the fur on Kyo's ear. "We're not alone any longer."

The first few months in their new home had taken some getting used to, but slowly the quiet of Honda house had soothed their anxieties. In an effort to veil one of the more noticeable clues to their identities, Hisako sewed a special leather band with the Honda family name on it around the cat's beaded bracelet. Kyo spent the time while she did this, having had to remove the bangle from his wrist, in the arms of his newly dubbed Aunt Kyoko.

Kyoko had seen the darkest corners the streets of Tokyo had to offer, so the sight of Kyo's other form, that of his haunted cat totem, didn't truly faze her. Coupled with the image of Kyoko's parents expressions of loathing toward her and murderous looks she'd received from her former fellow gang members, the sight of Kyo's raptor-like form sobbing in the corner was more heartrending than it was disturbing in Kyoko's mind.

"Kyo, I'm almost done dearest, just a few more minutes" Hisako would remind her son in five minute intervals, trying to comfort him as best she could.

It was necessary to put Kyo through this, necessary to hide him from what could happen if the Sohma realized who he was by the seeing the cat's beads draped around Kyo's wrist, but it nonetheless pained Hisako to see Kyo's distress at having to be in his 'other' zodiac form.

"...you'll always look like an orange-top to me" Hisako could hear Kyoko saying and turned her head to see her son smiling despite his apparent need to brace his gnarled claws against his shoulders as a form of security "and everybody knows there's nothing scary about oranges. Especially ticklish oranges."

Hisako smiled to hear her son laughing as Kyoko managed to find all of his weak points. His aborted retaliation and newfound playfulness despite being in his current situation gave her hope that he might yet grow to be a normal happy child. Something his upbringing within the Sohma family would have quite visibly prevented.

Ten minutes later Kyo himself had turned back into a cat, despite the absence of his bracelet, something that surprised both the adults in the room.

"It must be your acceptance of him, Kyoko" Hisako said. "I've always been too afraid to take the beads off before now. I didn't think it was possible to change him back without them."

"So this is something new?" Kyoko asked thoughtfully.

Hisako nodded and Kyoko smiled down at her new nephew.

"I hope he too is less afraid now" Hisako said. "I wanted things to change for the both of us. So I will take this as a good sign."

"I believe you already have changed things for the better" Kyoko replied. "Children should be free to grow and play without fear and now so can Kyo. That's what you've given him, Hisako."

"I only hope that he will be able to survive in this world despite his curse" she replied. "That is what I hoped for more than anything. In this it's you that has given me something to hope for. Thank you, Kyoko."

* * *

Hisako had put a great deal of effort into altering both her appearance and Kyo's beyond recognition, by dying their hair black, and Kyo's eyebrows and cutting her hair to a length that didn't even reach her shoulders. Every morning Hisako also made it a point to apply dabs of lipstick and eyeliner to her face, things Tanjiro had never known her to do while they lived together. However strange it may have felt, this was a small price to pay as to keep them safe from harm.

In her mind the Sohma zodiac had slowly woven itself into an additional state of dreariness and isolation despite the contingencies made to ensure their ability to live comfortably despite the curse. At times the implications of this had seemed nonsensical to Hisako, though she knew better to question this in front of her husband or another other member of the Sohma clan, the effect this would have on Kyo over time had been her most prevalent concern for the past three years.

It was a considerable relief to have finally removed both herself and Kyo from the source of this ongoing fear. Upon entering Toto-san's house for the first time she'd felt that she was finally able to breathe after years of being social and psychological suffocation.

* * *

Hisako had decided against sending Kyo to preschool and kindergarten, neither of which were mandatory in Japan at the time. The chances of Kyo making unintended contact with girls his age were extremely high and the last thing any of them wanted was for him to transform in front of a class of children and their teacher. She tried her best to educate him on everything she thought he might need to know in order to enter the first grade. Tokihiko was also able to fill in any gaps in Kyo's education, having been a teacher for decades, he was intimately familiar with the basic curriculum.

By the age of six, it was deemed safer for Kyo to attend school, because of the more disciplined atmosphere of a first grade classroom. So Kyo and Tohru started elementary school together and both of their parents were to take turns picking them up. Kyoko was less worried about Tohru as she knew that Kyo would stop anyone who tried to pick on his adoptive cousin, something she'd had trouble with in the past. This had proved to be true when Kyoko went to pick up the children at the end of their first day.

"...And then they told me I could be the rice ball" Tohru revealed as she recounted her day to her mother "but Kyo said that wasn't very nice because rice wasn't a fruit. -I'm sure they weren't trying to be mean though Kyo- and then he said we should go play hopscotch with some of the other kids instead-"

"They weren't playing it right, Aunt Kyoko" Kyo insisted with a scowl. "There isn't any rice ball in Fruits Basket. They weren't going to call her."

"But Kyo they said you could be the orange, I don't know how they knew about your hair since it's all black now" Tohru put in, getting a chuckle out of Kyoko. "I think Kyo would make a good orange."

"I still don't wanna play with those guys anymore. They had no right, treating you like that" Kyo grumbled as Kyoko ruffled his hair.

"I'm not sure what those children were thinking, but I know it takes some people longer to learn how to play with others" Kyoko reasoned. "Not everyone grew up with a cousin or sibling around like you and Tohru. Lots of other kids are still learning how to play games, make rules, and take turns. Just give them some time and I think you'll find they've changed."

"All of them?" Kyo said skeptically, eyebrow raised.

"Some of them" Kyoko amended. "With others it might take a little longer. For instance your Uncle Katsuya likes tease so much that I'm not sure if he ever grew up."

"You shouldn't say that stuff when he's isn't" Kyo told her. "He can't say anything back."

Kyoko realized that Kyo wasn't being fresh, so much as he was thinking of the way his own parents used to interact.

"We're only teasing each other Kyo, I didn't mean anything bad by it" she said.

"Besides daddy says things like too sometimes," Tohru responded helpfully "and he's always checking to make sure my mom's eyebrows are still there."

Kyo laughed a little at that.

"Think that's funny do you, smart guy?" Kyoko asked with a sneaky smile. "We'll see how much you like this instead."

Then she proceeded to tickle him as he tried in vain to get out of her reach.

* * *

Katsuya always made an effort to spend some time with Kyo as well as Tohru on weekends. His time with Kyo usually ended up being during an afternoon when Tohru and her mother went out shopping by themselves. Teaching his adopted nephew how to play catch was something Kyoko had suggested as baseball was one of the more prevalent outdoor sports in schools nowadays. However, it was a bit of a novelty for Katsuya himself, as his father had been more concerned about perfecting his son's academic skills than his physical ones.

Around the time that Kyo turned seven the two of them had taken to frequenting the local park a few blocks down from Katsuya's house, either to play catch or kick a soccer ball around. Kyo seemed to enjoy it well enough and his uncle hoped that teaching him a little about sports would help him socialize with other children his age.

"I've been trying to convince mom to let me learn martial arts" Kyo was telling him as he threw the baseball in Katsuya's direction "but she's afraid I might end up sparing with a girl if it's a co-ed class."

"There are instructors who prefer to keep men and women in separate classes. Would you like me to find you one with Hisak...Hisano's permission?" Katsuya inquired as he caught deftly caught the ball with his left hand.

"If-if you wouldn't mind" came the reply. Kyo looked down at the ball in his fist in an effort to assuage the awkward feeling in his chest. "I know mom has a hard time sometimes, trying to do everything. My da-father never wanted anything to do with those kind of things."

Katsuya favored the boy with a sympathetic expression.

"I'm not your father, but I want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to or to ask a question you feel that you think your mother or Aunt cannot answer for you, you can come to me." he said "I promise I'll listen and try to help you find the answer."

Kyo nodded, surprised expression plastered on his face.

"Thank you, uncle" he replied. Then he looked thoughtful. "Your face right now kind of reminds me of that word Aunt Kyoko likes to call you sometimes. Eneramic. Enigratmic."

"Enigmatic" Katsuya corrected sardonically, as he readied himself to throw the baseball again. Under his breath he mumbled. "Where _does_ she learn these words?"

"What does that mean anyway?"

"That's your aunts way of saying I'm being mysterious" Katsuya remarked lightly. "She doesn't actually mean it, Kyo."

"Then why would she say so if she didn't mean it?" Kyo asked in confusion.

"It's her way of showing affection" his uncle assured him. "Like when she calls you orange-top."

"I hate it when she does that" Kyo grumbled, as he caught the ball yet again.

"I think that's why she does it" Katsuya replied, trying but failing to contain an amused smile. "People tend to irritate those they love as a way of showing how they feel."

"That's stupid, they should just tell that person instead. It'd be less annoying" Kyo insisted.

"That does seem like it would be easier, but much more complicated than that."

Kyo tilted his head to the side and just stared up at him.

"You'll understand when you get older" Katsuya reassured him.

* * *

After a quiet conversation between Katsuya and Hisako, it was decided that Kyo could attend martial arts classes as long as there was no risk of his curse being discovered.

Master Kurashima was kind enough to allow Kyo to enter one of his afternoon classes consisting only of young boys. He believed Hisako when she explained Kyo's awkwardness toward girls as an early awareness of his attraction to them.

He began learning his katas beside several boys between the ages of 7 and 10.

Everything went well until their sensei introduced his friend Master Sohma Kazuma and announced that the man would be helping to instruct them in the finer points of sparing. Kyo felt his heart jump at the mention of the surname _Sohma_ and he worried that this man might recognize him.

"Aren't you worried, Mom?" Kyo asked Hisako after he'd related the story to her. "Is he going to be able to tell what I am?"

Hisako shook her head.

"The Sohma clan is very big" she explained, "and I doubt this Kazuma would have seen you before without my knowing it. He is a man and won't cause you to transform if you bump into him. So believe we have little reason to worry about him finding us out."

"O-okay, if you think he's safe, I'll go back" Kyo answered, somewhat relieved.

"You love martial arts Kyo, you've been happier since you started going to class. If I truly thought it was dangerous for you to go there, we'd find another place for you to go" Hisako said in an effort to reassure her son. "The reason we left was so you could live your life the way you want to, with certain rules of course, but without fear that of what they might do to you."

Kyo nodded and put his head against his mother's shoulder, she returned the gesture by placing a hand on his hair comfortingly.

After that Hisako made it a point to stay and watch a few of Kyo's classes from a back corner. She wanted to make absolutely certain that she'd never seen this man before and she was rewarded with the sight of an unfamiliar face. Kazuma Sohma was tall and sturdy, as a martial arts master should be, with a familiar tuft of gray hair with a light sheen of blue that seemed to dominate certain branches of the Sohma family.

For his part Kazuma was curious about the young woman who quietly watched his students go about their routine. She didn't seem to be overly concerned about her son's performance, not that she needed to be as Kyo had proved quiet adept at learning Judo, but her presence though not overbearing, was unusual. So much so that Kazuma found himself quietly deliberating whether or not it was the novelty of the ancient dojo itself that drew her interest.

Kazuma didn't have much reason to converse with Hisano Honda as she and Kyo left soon after the class ended for the afternoon. He himself was often beset by other students with questions as soon as he ended the day's exercises.

Then one afternoon, an hour before class, there was a knock as the door. Kazuma had offered to take over classed for the week as Master Kurashima was unable due to his daughter being ill. He was surprised to find the visage of Hisano and that of Kyo there to greet him after he'd pushed aside the wall panel.

Kyo himself looked a little worse for wear as his student was sporting a small cut on the left side of his face and with a black eye adorning the right.

"Master Sohma" Hisako began, bowing low as a sign of respect, "would you please speak to my son. He seems to have forgotten the rules governing what you have taught him."

Kazuma raised a speculative eyebrow at Kyo, who looked away somewhat defiantly.

"Let's have a talk Kyo" he said calmly. "I'll keep him until class time, Ms. Honda."

Hisako nodded.

"I'll wait outside near the temple" she said, gesturing for Kyo to follow his sensei before leaving them alone.

Kazuma pulled up two of the sitting mats that Master Kurashima kept in the dojo and motioned for Kyo to sit beside him.

"Now why don't explain to me what happened?" he said.

"Aren't you going to yell at me and tell me what I did wrong?" Kyo wanted to know.

"I think you already know what you did wrong" Kazuma answered in a steadily calm voice. "What I would like to like to know is why you decided to do it despite knowing this."

"I didn't do for myself" Kyo said in a low voice. "These guys were picking on my cousin, Tohru. They keep calling her 'rice ball' at school, because they think she's stupid. That she doesn't know they're being mean, because she so nice to everyone. They always invite her to play Fruits Basket then call her the rice ball like they think it's funny. Then today one of the boys started hitting her because she had a toy that he wanted and I-I hit him back."

"I see. So you were trying to defend your cousin by hitting back at the other boy" Kazuma replied. "Wouldn't it have been better to let your teacher know what was happening rather than taking it upon yourself to hurt someone else?"

"Yes, but-they never let her be sometimes. I'd had enough of them doing that to her" Kyo said grudgingly.

"You could always help your cousin find other children to play with, surely those boys can't be the only other students in your class."

"I guess so."

"I'll make a deal with you, Kyo" Kazuma said after a moment of contemplation. "I won't make you sit in the corner during today's class if you'll promise to try asking your teacher for help next time. If you want to help your cousin you'd be better off doing that and then finding some other students to play with who are less likely to pick on him-"

"Tohru's a girl."

"-her then. Will you do this, Kyo?"

"Yes sensei" Kyo agreed quietly. Though he was worried about what would happen if he couldn't defend Tohru the way he had before without getting into trouble, he was glad that his sensei had decided not to punish him for it.

* * *

There were times when Kazuma couldn't sleep and on those nights he would be bombarded with the images of his grandfather, the former cat of the zodiac, whose most recent incarnation had been declared dead nearly four years ago.

_"Such a sad fate for one so young" Kazuma had said to Akito Sohma at the time of the boy's disappearance. "Are you so certain of his fate?"_

_"Speak with that creature's father yourself. It was a nuisance and it's mother was the one who burdened us with it" Akito had replied. "What else could such a woman have done under those circumstances? She could not have hidden its curse from others for very long. Even I can no longer feel its presence in this world."_

So Kazuma had indeed taken it upon himself to visit the residence of Tanjiro Sohma who had proved to be a bitter man.

_"I didn't ask for her to have that thing" Tanjiro said, bottle of sake in hand. "It's his fault my wife is dead! The dishonor he caused us just by being born. She wouldn't let him be locked up early. I told her!"_

_Kazuma spent most of the visit in silence as he listened to that cat's father vent his anger. Finally the man had admitted to hitting his wife, claiming he was forced to do, because she insisted on protecting their son from any physical violence. Tanjiro himself had been ready to disown the boy at that point._

After that Kazuma had been forced to admit that he understood why the cat's mother had run away from such an unhappy marriage. On the other hand it was widely believed that she'd been on her way to her mother's home in Hokkaido before some misfortune had befall Hisako and her child.

_"There was a tsunami that devastated the area that year" Hatori Sohma had suggested solemnly, when asked. "No doubt the two of them were among those completely unaccounted for. It's sad really, thinking about a child dying in such a way."_

Sometimes Kazuma found his thoughts wandering to his other students within the zodiac and harsh realities they'd had to face. Other times he thought about his students at Master Kurashima's dojo, in particular Kyo Honda, who never removed his arm band. When asked the boy would cite tradition and family honor as the reasoning behind why he wore the bangle during his marital arts classes and, Kazuma suspected, everywhere else as well.

Hisano Honda was a protective mother who made sure her son was considerate, well behaved, and well adjusted to his environment. Kyo had let slip once that he hadn't really known his father and gave the impression that the man had walked out on his family.

There were times though, when Kazuma wondered if the cat had survived after all or if he was simply drawing the wrong conclusion from two small, unrelated, coincidences. He suspected Kyo's name, which he claimed he'd gotten in honor of his aunt Kyoko, brought out feelings of guilt in him, because it was the same as that of boy who'd gone missing. That had to be the case, since Kazuma knew there would be no hiding the cat's transformations from others for very long, nor the existence of his true form once another child accidentally removed the juzu beads.

This same guilt that he felt was the driving motivation behind Kazuma's own research into his grandfather's life through recorded text about past zodiac members and questioning the family elders about life and state of mind. The results of which he didn't like to touch upon even in his own mind. Fortunately one of these elders had been Kazuma's own grandmother and the cat's lover for the remaining decades of his life within the main house. She was one of the few to express any regret about his grandfather's passing and on his life in general.

_At least this Kyo is alive,_ Kazuma thought, _and his life is nothing like what the cat had to endure._

Kazuma finally started to fall asleep after hours of being involuntarily awake.

_He does tend to move a bit slower on rainy days,_ he thought. _Even if his mother is right and it's simply a touch of asthma made worse by the rain. I wonder if he's been playing in the rain...if that's the reason...Kyo should be careful of his health. If he has been playing in the rain than he shouldn't...worry his mother that way..._

* * *

Hisako usually took Kyo with her when she went out shopping, wanting him to familiarize himself with the local stores. If the weather was nice they walked to the shopping district and took the bus if it rained or snowed. When she'd first come to live with Tokihiko, Hisako had been hesitant to take her son with her, because she'd feared that either the Sohmas or the authorities would recognize the two of them if they went out together. Now she was more secure in her disguise and Kyo himself had grown beyond recognition at this point. He now looked nothing like his three-year-old self.

On one such afternoon when Kyo was seven, Hisako had sent him to pick out a bushel of apples from another section of the store. It was something he had done several times before and she felt that he was old enough to do small tasks without incident. The apples were kept with the rest of the fruit, nearest to the shop entrance. Kyo easily collected them and was bringing them to his mother when a man grabbed him by the shoulder and attempted to drag him out of the store.

Kyo caught sight of his mother nearby glancing around for him amongst the fruits.

He tried to scream for help but the man held him so tight that his breathing was now constricted and the sound that came out wasn't loud enough to cut through the clamor of the crowded store. The man would have succeeded had a hand not suddenly grabbed his left arm from behind and twisted it away from Kyo, freeing him from the man's grasp.

Kyo looked up and saw that his sensei, Kazuma Sohma, was the one holding the man away from him.

Suddenly a woman screamed in horror, catching Hisako's attention and she ran to her where her son was. Eventually the police were called and Kyo told them what had happened, freeing Kazuma from any suspicion. The other man was taken away by the police and Hisako, Kyo, and Kazuma were called down to the station for questioning. When they were finished, an hour and a half later, it was almost supper time.

"Kyo and I are eating in town tonight, because my employer is visiting his daughter" Hisako told Kazuma as they stood outside the police station. "Would you like to join us?"

"It would be an honor" Kazuma replied with his usual easy smile.

"Good. It will be my treat as a thank you for saving my son" she said. Then held up a hand to stall to protest he started to give. "Kyo is my only child. I feel the need to repay you in some way, you have already been a great help to me by talking to him about fighting in school. I insist."

"Very well" he said. "I see I can't argue with that."

"You are were shopping alone, so I can only assume you do your own cooking" Hisako commented.

"That is true. I've lived by myself for many years now, so I've become very self sufficient" he answered.

"If I had were cooking tonight I would have sent you home with something of your own in gratitude for saving my son" she continued. "This will have to suffice for now."

"For now?" Kazuma asked. "Ms. Honda your kindness in buying me dinner is more than enough."

"It isn't" Hisako said firmly, forestalling any further argument. "There was a time when Kyo was all that I had left. He means more to me than anything. So when I have the time I will cook something and bring it to the dojo for you to take home with you. Now, where should we eat?"

Kazuma decided against fighting what he knew was a losing battle and suggested a restaurant that wasn't too far from the bus station, as it was getting dark out and he assumed Hisako would use public transit to get home.

The three of them passed a quiet evening together exchanging pleasantries and discussing Kyo's education, the best way to blend tea, and the recent changes that had been made to some of the local festivals. At the end of the night Hisako and Kyo recollected their shopping bags, wished Kazuma a pleasant evening, and boarded a bus that let off close to their home.

The very next week Hisako made good on the promise she'd made Kazuma and brought a basket filled with several dishes that would keep until classes had ended for the day. So that night he found himself enjoying homemade cooking that was much better than his own for the first time in years. Kazuma ate alone most nights outside of the occasional invitation to dine at the main house, New Year's celebrations, and rare visits from his older students or Kunimitsu. Joining Hisako and Kyo for dinner had been a nice change and he had enjoyed their company.

Kazuma deliberated over inviting the two of them to attend one of the local festivals with him. In the end he decided to wait and see what the next few months brought him as he was now looking after two dojo's part time, because of Master Kurashima's recent health problems.

* * *

Two months passed before Kazuma was able to spend a quiet afternoon by himself sipping tea and re-reading some of this favorite texts. It was then that he contemplated asking Kyo and his mother to attend the local fireworks festival with him. He knew from Hisano herself that she was still married to a man who'd walked away from her and Kyo years before, and was determined never to do anything that might make Hisano feel as though they'd crossed any social boundaries. Though if he ever met Kyo's father, Kazuma wasn't sure he'd be able to restrain himself from hitting the man for leaving a wife and child behind to fend for themselves.

"Yes" Hisano answered when he asked her. "My niece and her parents will also be in attendance. Would you mind if we went together with them?"

Kazuma shook his head.

"Of course not. Festivals are a time to spend with family after all" he said. "Though most of mine wait until New Year's to truly get together and celebrate."

"That's understandable" Hisano asserted. "New Year's is a time for new beginnings, I'm sure many disagreements are put on hold for such a night."

"Some of them" Kazuma agreed. "There are some traditions that are considered more important than others. Loyalty to family notwithstanding."

"You must enjoy having such a large family."

"It can be enjoyable" Kazuma admitted, "and holidays at the main house are always fairly...enlightening."

* * *

***Notes:** Fruits Basket takes place in Tokyo, and a train runs from Tokyo to Hokkaido. Hisako simply didn't want to take an overnight trip on a train with a small child.

Kyo and Tohru are ages of 3-7 in this part.

Kazuma Sohma still feels extremely guilty about how he treated his grandfather as well as the treatment he received from the entire family.

As it states in the manga his grandparent's affair happened more because Kazuma's grandmother pitied his grandfather's situation in life than anything else, so it didn't really have any effect on the curse. Also presumably Kazuma's grandmother was another member of the zodiac.

In my story Kazuma and his father are the only recorded descendants of any cat of the zodiac. I'm also going to assume that members of the zodiac having descendants was a rare occurrence, because of the possessive nature of the "god" of the zodiac and their own inability to have certain physical contact with anyone without transforming. Shigure may have proved that having intimate relations with a non-zodiac member wasn't impossible, after he slept with Ren, but it was probably a very delicate process.

Also, even though the god and the rat being born were rare occurrences, I highly doubt that Akito was the only person in any generation to keep a tight hold over them. Particularly when the entire zodiac is supposed to return to the main house to live after the cat is locked up.


	2. Part 2

_Author's Note:_ Even though I only received one review for this story, I promised that person I'd update the story. So I have.

I hope you enjoy this _Cursedgirls13_. :)

I'd also like to mention that the title is a reference to the fact that Fruits Basket is considered a "Fractured Fairytale". :)

* * *

Eight-year-old Yuki Sohma found that he wished for many things as he sat locked away from the world for hours on end, with only Akito's company. He wanted his friends back, not to feel so cold all of the time, and for his brother to talk to him.

He wished Hatori hadn't erased everyone's memories, because it was only an accident. He'd begged Hatori not to do it.

_"Please don't erase their memories. They're my friends."_

Hatori had offered Yuki sympathy and tried to comfort him, but in the he'd still erased the memories of every friend Yuki' had ever had. Akito had wanted everyone's memories erased, even members of the Sohma clan, and individuals who'd been present, but hadn't actually seen Yuki transform.

A part of Yuki had begun to blame Hatori for what he'd done, while another was sure it hated Akito as much as it feared him.

In the end they'd left Yuki with nothing and this caused him to think darker thoughts that involved him never being allowed to leave the main house again. Akito didn't like it when people left, because the cat had done so and died, or so Yuki always been told.

_"Why else would the good-for-nothing cat have disappeared without a trace along with his mother?" the elder Sohmas had said. "There was nothing in this world for someone as worthless as the cat. But the cat was unlucky, so something unfortunate must have happened to them."_

Privately Yuki thought the cat was the lucky one. The cat didn't have to stay here all alone with only Akito for a friend. He was with his mother, who loved him. She must have loved him, if she stayed while people said bad things about him.

Yuki supposed he was jealous of the cat, because during his short life the cat had had the one thing Yuki wanted most of all. The love of the mother who'd raised him.

The cat was also free, Yuki had once made up a story where he and the cat were friends, where the rat hadn't tricked the cat out of missing the zodiac banquet. Even if it was just a fantasy, it helped to make him feel better during the illness that followed after his friends had their memories erased. Yuki sometimes thought about freedom, the kind those birds outside the window seemed to have and along with the rats that who were sometimes drawn to him because of the curse.

Freedom was a long time in coming and when light finally did breach Yuki's isolated world it came in the form of another rather agitated member of the zodiac.

Yuki thought he knew why Hatsaharu was looking at him like that with stern black eyes flaring with envy and accusation. The other Sohmas at the main house tended to gossip about the zodiac at every chance they got. Then the other boy ranted to him about how the rat had tricked the Ox in the zodiac legend into letting him ride on the Ox's back to get to the banquet, just as Yuki thought he might. He'd long since known that the other members of the zodiac were incredibly wary of his presence, because of the actions of the original rat. In the zodiac cycle the rat spirit also seemed intent on making itself scarce, as children born possessed by the rat were even rarer than that of god. It was one of the few things Akito had told him without any malice the first time they'd met.

"Everyone says I'm a fool, because of what the rat did!"Haru yelled at him.

Yuki favored him with a smile. After many nights of sitting at Akito's side during family events and the zodiac banquet, Yuki had figured out that most of the other cursed children hated the rat. The rat in the old legend had been praised for his cleverness at the expense of others. Maybe this boy was different from the others after all.

"And are you what they said? Are you a fool? " Yuki asked. hoping to encourage the boy to talk more. He'd grown to hate the silence that surrounded him since he'd gotten sick.

"No" Haru replied in a hush. "I-I'm not a fool. I'm no fool... I'm not!"

"I didn't think so."

* * *

That summer heralded a dark cloud for certain members of the Sohma family. Nine-year-old Izuzu Sohma, the horse of the zodiac had lost her parents in a car accident on the first day of the rainy season. Up until that moment the girl had lived a relatively quiet life with her parents. After hearing about the cat's disappearance when she was little, Izuzu had decided to ignore the burning question she'd wanted to ask her parents about their life in favor of another more immediate concern.

_"How do people disappear like that?"_ _Izuzu had asked her parents at dinner that night. "Like the cat."_

_The air had gone tense all of a sudden and Izuzu felt sure she'd just said the wrong thing._

_"It's like the man in that magic show Daddy took me to see..." she continued, trying to get them to laugh or smile or...something. _

_This seemed to shift the awkward atmosphere a bit._

_"That's a different kind of disappearance" her father said with a small smile. "You just got it a little mixed up."_

_"That's right, when a magician disappears it's only part of the show" her mother added "but it's not safe to disappear outside of one. It's a very bad thing to do."_

_"That's why we always tell you to be careful and do what we tell you" her father continued, giving Izuzu a little pat on the head. "So bad things won't happen."_

After that she'd determined, in her mind, that anything her parents did must have been to keep her safe and that must be happy all of the time simply because their daughter hadn't disappeared as well. Even if Izuzu knew deep down that something was off about the way they acted sometimes, she never questioned it. Better still, she tried to be the perfect daughter, even when she was feeling sick and it killed her to do so. So she hadn't said anything when her parents decided to go on a trip and leave her at the Sohma main house.

_"We don't want you to miss school" Izuzu's mother had told her. "Now you be good and play nice with Akito."_

Her parents never realized that their daughter didn't actively seek out the Akito for any reason. She didn't want to curry any favor with the head of the family, because she and the rest of the zodiac knew what happened if Akito liked someone too much.

In truth she had preferred to wander around the main house in search of quieter activities and happened upon Hatsuharu, the Ox of the zodiac. He hadn't spoken much at first, but she managed to convince him to play tag with her.

_"I'll show you what sensei's been teaching me" Hatsuharu had told her._

_He showed her the first couple of Judo forms he'd learned and began explaining some of the techniques behind them to the best of his ability._

_"Whose sensei?" Izuzu had asked._

_"Sohma Kazuma. He has a dojo right near the main house" Hatsuharu had explained. "Maybe your parents will let you go too. Then we can go together."_

_"I'd like that" Izuzu replied with a smile._

Izuzu had been born an only child to Kazuki and Ume Sohma and had no siblings to offer comfort upon her parents deaths. As a result she clung to Hatsuharu, even though she'd only known him a short time, as the only friend she had in the zodiac and cried for days.

"It'll be okay, Rin. I'm here, I'm here" Haru said, hugging her close. At some point in their friendship he'd given her the nickname "Rin", because her name meant bell and "Rin" was one of the sounds a bell made.

_"Don't you mean 'ring'?" Izuzu had asked._

_"No it's Rin" Hatsuharu had insisted. "Bells make a pretty sound when you shake them and 'rin' is sounds better than 'ring'."_

Her parents funeral was a subdued event with all of the Sohma's in attendance. The members of the zodiac and Akito being first in line to pay their respects. She'd have felt fortunate that Akito said very little to her, if didn't feel so very empty inside.

The last one to pass by and offer solace was Kagura, the boar. Izuzu didn't really know her, and felt a bit uncertain about what she should say to her. In the end she'd remained silent and flinched a little at the embrace the younger girl tried to give her. It wasn't until later that she was told Kagura's parents had been given custody of her.

Being forced to leave her home after losing the two people she cared about most was, in her mind, the worst thing that could have happened to her. Though she would soon be forced to alter that opinion when began accompanying Hatsuharu during his monthly visits to see the rat, Yuki Sohma.

"I'll be your lookout" Izuzu told Haru during one of those visits. "I couldn't stand it if you got caught."

"Be careful" Haru told her. "I can go lie low at my mother's house if I need to. Most of the time she's out with another boyfriend, so she won't care what if I stay with her. You don't have another place to go."

"I don't want to hurt Kagura and Aunt Eimiko, but they won't tell on me either" Izuzu insisted. "They're like my parents, they don't think we're strange at all."

"That doesn't mean it's safe."

"I know that Haru, but they don't let Kagura get anywhere near Akito if they can help it, so they can't be that bad either."

"Just...keep watch then. I've got to check on Yuki now."

After that Izuzu watched out for Haru during all his attempts to visit Yuki. When she saw one of the maids coming she immediately whistled at tune and so that he knew it was time to leave quickly. Admittedly she wondered what Haru saw in Yuki that he'd risk Akito's wrath to go see him. Some part of her was also a bit jealous of Yuki because of this.

A few weeks after moving in Izuzu found herself feeling incredibly annoyed when her Kagura's parents made her transfer to a new school. It was irksome to begin her time there halfway through the year, but they assured her, it was because they wanted her to attend the same school as Kagura. Her tempered had flared slightly and Izuzu wound up getting into an argument with Aunt Eimiko and Kagura. Despite this she eventually did as they asked.

The first day her new school was different, though she wouldn't say it was terrible. At the very least it was down the street from the one Hatsuharu attended, so they could walk home together once in a while. The only person who truly seemed to annoy her was Manabe Kakeru. His constant need for personal perfection was irritating to her. Not that his sister Machi in class 5-B was any better.

Izuzu found Kagura waiting for her outside school at the end of the day, surprisingly accompanied by Hatsuharu. She felt a sudden gratitude toward her foster sister in response, though she merely mumbled a greeting through her blush before turning away.

"How was your day Izuzu?" Kagura asked cheerfully. "Mom was hoping this might be a better fit for you."

"It's alright I guess" Rin replied still not lifting her head.

"I knew it! You love it! Right?...Right..._Right_-" Hatsuharu put a hand on Kagura's head to draw her attention before she worked herself into one of her typical frenzies.

"It's only Rin's first day" he said. "Give it some time and I'm sure she will. Alright, Kagura?"

"Okay" Kagura replied keeping up her chipper demeanor and enveloping Hatsuharu in a crushing hug.

"Why don't we go home then" Izuzu suggested, causing Kagura to grin, because she'd referred to Kagura's house as 'home' for the first time. They turned to go, but were distracted by the sound of yelling a few feet away.

Izuzu watched as Kakeru Manabe just stood there staring as his mother participated in what could only have been a usual altercation between his mother and another woman, who appeared to be the mother of his sister Machi.

"What the hell is going on there?" Haru asked.

"I don't know but it looks pretty terrible" Kagura commented with no small amount of concern.

"Those two are siblings" Izuzu explained referring to Kakeru and Machi. "One of those is the wife and the other is the mistress. They must be fighting about money."

"That's a shame" Kagura replied. "Those two don't seem to know how to handle it very well."

In that moment Izuzu decided that she might not dislike Kakeru as much as she'd first thought. Both he and his sister looked as though they were suffering greatly because of their parent's strife. At least she'd been happy with her parents, even if it was only for a little while.

"They shouldn't just stand there" Izuzu said "it's not right. They never...speak up. Not even in class."

"I wonder if they know how" Hatsuharu said grabbing her hand and holding it tight. "Or if they even know they can."

* * *

Three years after her parents death, Izuzu Sohma had kept up her ritual of visiting their grave on the anniversary of their deaths and before most of the yearly festivals. Kagura's family had been kind to her and she'd slowly come to see their home as a safe haven from the rest of the main house. She had found it easier over time to get to know Kagura's father Saito Sohma, since his recent promotion allowed for him to be home more often, instead of frequently going on business trips to Osaka.

Now at age eleven, school and her lessons with Kazuma Sohma had kept her busy. During the first year after her parents death this also prevented her from plunging herself into any type of long lasting depression. The constant efforts by Kagura and Aunt Eimiko to help her adjust to living in her new home had had the same effect.

On some nights she'd go out with Haru when he wasn't studying in his own quarters or stopping in on Shigure. Their visits to Yuki, the rat, were still frequent, and Haru continued to worry about his welfare.

During the past few years Kagura had graduated from middle school and started attending high school, so she no longer met Izuzu after school to walk home together. Leaving Hatsuharu as her only company on some afternoons. Izuzu herself was in her last year of elementary school.

She had made few friends as she kept to herself most of the time, not wanting to attract any male attention. She couldn't risk a transformation, particularly when her zodiac animal was so large in size. During her first year at this school, she'd sought out the quiet of the library quite often in between classes, and found out that Machi Kuragi seemed to prefer it as well. The girl had yet to speak to her in any way, in fact Machi rarely spoke outside of classes. Her brother Kakeru was the same way and the two barely acknowledged one another much of the time.

Today Izuzu had made her usual trip to the library during the lunch hour and just settled down with a book when she heard a voice behind her. She turned to see Machi staring directly at her.

"Is it good? " Machi asked her, drawing out her words in tone of shy politeness, "...the book you're reading I mean...is...it any good?"

Izuzu stared back in surprise for a couple of seconds before replying.

"Yes, it's a new one by Soichiro Tokagawa."

Machi nodded.

"I've read some of those...even though I'm supposed to be studying. My mother...I'm sure everyone knows this but...she wants me to inherit from father instead of Kakeru" Machi explained.

"I've heard" Izuzu replied. "My family is very different, because the business they own are often separate from the main house and leadership of the Sohma has passed from father to son for the last three generations."

"I would rather let Kakeru take after father, because then we wouldn't have to compete against one another for top grades. We could actually speak to each other."

"You must care about him then, to give in so easily" Izuzu commented.

"Kakeru is a good person" Machi explained. "He was always kind to me when we were little. Father...insisted that we know each other. I believe he also wants Kakeru to inherit. My brother...is the oldest by four months, but...mother...won't allow it."

"Is that why you come here for the quiet?"

"It's one of my reason" Machi replied. "Sometimes I can see Kakeru here, even if he doesn't speak to me much. He...he can't really, but he...asks how I am...and about...father's illness."

"Your father is ill? Is it...serious?"

Machi nodded, her expression slightly sorrowful.

"The doctor's are treating him, but...they said it might be two or three years at most and...he'll be in pain the whole time."

Izuzu sighed. This, this was something she could empathize with. It explained the added tension within Machi's family and the need for a cursory settlement on the issue of heir-ship.

"I'll take you books when I can...something you like. You shouldn't have to work so hard without having something to...put your mind at ease once in a while. I-I needed that when...when my parents died. You should have that too...with your father the way he is..."

Machi rewarded her with a bewildered, but almost happy expression. It was the first time Izuzu had seen the girl adopt anything other than her usual somber stare or a shy, closed-off expression.

"Th-thank-"

Izuzu shook her head to signal that wasn't necessary.

"I-I understand what it's like to need to get away for awhile so it doesn't consume you. Haru and Kagura helped me with that, but you don't have anyone besides Kakeru. So, I'll help you, even if it isn't much."

"Sohma is a nice person" Machi stated.

"It's not that" she replied turning away to hide any embarrassment. "It's just that I don't mind."

These little meetings with Machi in the library during lunch time and study periods kept up throughout the rest of Izuzu's final year of elementary school. Before she graduated Izuzu told Machi to try and follow her to the private middle school she was set to attend. Had it been a public middle school, Izuzu knew that Machi's mother would never have approved of her going there. So she had opted to attend the same private middle school that Kagura had previously. She knew full well that the cost of tuition for the school was little more than a pittance compared to the allowance Kagura's family received, because of her Uncle Saito's position in the family business and the presence of two members of the zodiac within the household.

* * *

In Izuzu's first year of middle school during the bristly month of October, Shigure Sohma was asked to leave the main house and Hatsuharu finally saw an opportunity to get Yuki away from Akito's influence.

He'd confided only in Rin about his plan and she in turn had warned Haru about the consequences for him if it went wrong and Akito realized what he was doing. The head of the family had ears everywhere amongst the maids Izuzu had always been fearful of being acknowledged as more than simply the horse of the zodiac. Yuki Sohma was a prime example of what happened to a person when they _weren't_ considered to be below Akito's notice.

Nonetheless Haru had decided to go through with it. He'd waited until two months after the older Sohma had settled into a house on the far outskirts of the Sohma's vast land holdings before approaching him with a deal. The visit wound up being two days later than he'd planned only because he'd gone with Rin to visit her parents grave.

After he'd located the house, despite his terrible sense of direction and been ushered inside by its occupant. Hatsuharu settled himself beside the table opposite Shigure and bowed low before him.

"I'll refer to you as Sensei for the rest of my god given life if you'd just-please convince them to let Yuki come and live with you" Hatsuharu implored him.

Shigure looked thoughtful for a moment and then asked what Hatsuharu stood to gain from it.

"Nothing I just-want him to be able to be happy."

"Hmmm...Akito isn't going to like this-"

Hatsuharu tensed at this.

"which is precisely why I'll go along with it."

"Thank you...Sensei."

"Hn" Shigure replied. "I think I'm going to enjoy this."

Hatsuharu made his exit after finishing the proffered cup of tea, secure in the news that he'd finally made some progress helping Yuki escape his years of torment.

Moments later the door separating Shigure's kitchen and sitting room slide open and Ayame Sohma stepped out from behind it.

Ayame had graduated from college a year early and opened his own custom-made clothing shop. This had led to his hiring of Mine Kuramae, whom he'd developed strong feelings for. The possibility of her rejection had caused Ayame to question himself for the first time and he finally understood the feelings of those he'd rejected in the past. Two individuals in particular, the first was the younger brother who'd once reached out to him, Yuki. The second, the former student council president of another school, who'd worked diligently beside him to strengthen the ties between their schools, Kurasumi Fujioka. Kurasumi had confessed to having feelings for Ayame before they'd both graduated high school and Ayame had pretended to misunderstand and swept her feelings aside with a joke. Hatori had scolded him for his careless dismissal and warned him that he'd someday regret those words.

It was only when Ayame had finally gotten up the courage to reveal his own feelings to Mine, that he'd flooded with guilt over his past treatments of others. Hatori had been right after all. Only when Mine had accepted his feelings and returned them with some of her own, did Ayame feel any kind of relief. After finally coming to understand the feelings of those he'd carelessly rejected, Ayame was determined to perform some type of penance. He had no means by which to contact his former schoolmate and make amends, but Ayame had decided to do what he could to repair his relationship with his younger brother. Hatsuharu's admission to Shigure had seemed the perfect opportunity in which to propel such a venture.

"So my dear little brother is looking for a place live" he said moving further into the room and settling himself at the low table near his friend.

"It does seem that way" Shigure replied. "You could come see him here, Aya."

"I want to do more than that, 'gure. I want him to come live with me instead."

"You're being unusually serious, Aya. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were worried about Yuki" Shigure intoned. "Though I warn you, Akito isn't going to like that anymore than Yuki living here."

"It's different now, I want things to change between us..."

"Hm, yes it is going to be rather difficult to convince Akito to let Yuki go..."his friend said and Ayame looked downcast, "...unless I tell him you're more likely to annoy Yuki than form any type of bond with him. That might work actually, if I tell Akito that one month living with you will probably convince Yuki he's better off living in the main house."

"Yes that might work. You'd do that for me Shigure?!"

"I'd do anything for you, Aya" Shigure said with a suggestive smile. Then his serious demeanor returned. "But what about your housekeeper?"

"Other arrangements can be made" Ayame said evasively. "What do you think Hari will say?"

"That you're an idiot, but caring one."

"Do you think there will be another cat?" Ayame asked completely changing the subject.

"Possibly, just not in our lifetime" Shigure replied in a bored tone. "We only get one ourselves and he's been dead for years."

"You believe that to be true?"

"There's nothing here to convince me otherwise, Aya. Women and children don't just vanish into thin air after all. Why the sudden interest?"

"You don't think they'd lock someone else up in place of the cat, do you?"

Shigure's expression darkened.

"I wouldn't put it past Akito to try, but I believe it would be a terribly foolish thing to do. It would fly in the very face of our _much_ loved traditions" he said seriously and with no small amount of sarcasm.

Then Shigure sighed and favored Ayame with a kinder look.

"Suffice to say that Yuki is probably safe at the moment, as much as he's ever been anyway. Locking the rat away in the cat's stead would change one of our oldest held traditions and Akito clings to those traditions with more conviction than anyone."

Ayame let out the breath he'd been holding.

"If you say so, 'gure. You know him far better than I. Far too well, I'd imagine."

Shigure smiled lightly.

"A little trouble can make life all the more interesting at times" he replied. "Speaking of which I should go call Hatori to come over and join us for some sake."

An offer the Hatori wisely declined, citing the fact that he was going on a date with Kana instead.

* * *

After eight months of Shigure carefully prodding Akito. Yuki Sohma was allowed to leave the main house on a temporary basis to live with his brother. Akito was loathe to give up his plaything, but the head of the family had taken the bait when Shigure had insisted that giving Yuki a glimpse of the harsh realities of the outside world would only encourage him to permanently return to Akito's side when he turned eighteen.

Yuki had reservations about going to live with his brother Ayame, many reservations. He was sure that was why Akito had even allowed this arrangement after years of locking him away and ensuring that Yuki received private tutoring, reducing his time outside of the main house to practically nothing.

_Hatori didn't agree with this either,_ Yuki thought as he packed up his belongings. He knew Akito would send one of the maids to do it that afternoon, but he didn't want her sifting through his things again.

It was hard to believe that after years of wishing for an escape, he was actually leaving the main house to live somewhere else. The ignominy of the idea was nerve-wracking to Yuki, even though he knew it meant finally getting some distance from Akito's torment.

On the other hand Yuki was entirely suspicious of Ayame and his motives for suddenly taking in the brother he'd been seemingly determined to ignore.

_Ayame's just like mother. He only wants me so the main house will give him what he wants._

Two hours later Yuki found himself in a hired car with the brother he barely knew. It took nearly half an hour to get to Ayame's apartment and during that time Ayame had managed to tell him half a dozen stories that made absolutely no sense.

_Is this another of Akito's punishments?_ Yuki wondered. _Maybe this is why Hatori didn't want me coming here. It's all some kind of trick._

"Well this is our stop, we'd best get out and see to the rather tedious task of unpacking your things You do have enough of them right? Didn't think so! Well we'll see to that in time, I promise you, I only make the very best things here if you must know and-" Ayame stopped suddenly and looked at him, really looked at him, with that penetrating gaze.

"You haven't eaten have you?"

Yuki looked down and shook his head.

"Then we'd best take care of that. Don't worry about your bags the driver will take them up, now why don't we see about feeding you! So what would you like? Sushi? Soba? Basashi? Soki? I wouldn't recommend the fugu, it's quite poisonous if you prepare it the wrong way"

"Can I have ramen?" Yuki asked. He hadn't really expected his brother to care very much what he wanted and his nonstop chatter was very hard to get any meaning out of, but he really didn't know a better way of testing the waters than this.

"If that's what you'd prefer" Ayame said with a serious nod. Then he grabbed Yuki's hand intent on dragging him off down the street. "Then we shall have to go in search of the most perfect ramen ever made! We are now brothers sworn on a quest to find culinary perfection even should the darkness of night come swiftly upon us, we shall prevail!"

Yuki's expression went from surprised, to puzzled, then oddly enough a little amused at his brother's insanity. He now understood why it was that Ayame didn't live in the main house. There was little doubt in his mind that Akito may very well have allowed the snake to live so far from the rest of the zodiac because he simply couldn't stand to be in Ayame's presence for more than ten minutes at a time.

Yuki thought this might be a good thing as it meant that any time in Ayame's company kept him out of Akito's.

When they'd finally located the "perfect" ramen dish at a restaurant some five blocks away, at least Yuki told Ayame that it was perfect, because his feet were aching something terrible by then, they stopped to eat lunch. It was late when they returned home and Yuki became acquainted with his brother's housekeeper, Mine. A boisterous women with a kind smile and a mischievous glint in her eye. Yuki wondered if she too was a part of his brother's plot to exploit him.

* * *

Kyo and Tohru had decided to attend the same public middle school within their prefecture, wanting to save as much money as they could for their high school tuition. Their parents were greatly relieved as it meant the two of them could look out for one another at their new school.

The week before their graduation from elementary school Kyo had already found out that three of the boys from his class were also going to the same public middle school that he was. However two of Tohru's friends had moved away two months before graduation and three others had already taken entrance exams, and were planning to attend private middle schools. So she knew she would need to make new friends once school started again.

"Aiko did say she'd write to me from Yokohama" Tohru said when the two of them were out in her yard together. "Do you think she might come back for high school?"

"She might" Kyo answered. "If they can afford it. That's a long time to wait before you see her again."

"I know, but it's a little frightening, going to a new school and all" Tohru responded.

"Mm. It's different" Kyo said. "I'm not scared or anything, but I am a little nervous. I just don't want to worry my mother."

"She's always going to worry about you" Tohru informed him. "My mom says that's part of being a parent."

"My mother, she sees this as one more step toward freedom. She said the cat of the zodiac was usually locked up in a special room in the Sohma main house once he turned eighteen" Kyo explained. "I wasn't raised by the Sohmas so they couldn't force me to go without grandfather or our parents getting the police involved."

"Didn't you change your name, Kyo?"

Kyo shook his head.

"Grandfather explained it to me on my birthday. You can register a person living with you under the clan roll as long as they have the paperwork with their real name and government number on it. After you're registered with a clan, any clan, then only a husband or wife, or a parent if you're younger than eighteen, can ask for information using that number" he said. "I doubt my father even knows mine."

"So your father would have to ask in person to find out if Aunt Hisano signed you up for school" Tohru said.

Kyo nodded.

"My mother said she took all of our papers with her when she left. She told me that even if he did have them, my father probably wouldn't want to find us" he added turning to stare at the sky. "That my father would probably feel less _dishonored_" Kyo growled lightly as he said it "if we were thought to be dead."

"You don't feel that way, right Kyo?" Tohru said urgently. "You know how much we care about you."

"It's fine" Kyo responded with a quick smile. "I don't have any good memories of my father, so it's not the same. Grandfather, Uncle, and Sensei are like my father in different ways."

"Just don't forget that we care about you, Kyo" Tohru said mock sternly. "Everyone would miss you if you were gone. So please be careful."

"I know" Kyo answered putting a hand to the back of his head before leaning back into the chair he was sitting on. "S'not like I'll ever be able to forget."

"Oh! I keep forgetting to tell Kyo. I've been working on my punches again" Tohru said cheerfully in an attempt to cut through the dower tone their conversation had taken.

"Okay, show me then" he said.

Tohru nodded and got into position.

"Right-Straight" she said, landing a couple of light taps with her fists against Kyo's left shoulder. "How was it?"

"Pretty terrible" Kyo said without missing a beat and almost failing to keep a straight face.

Then the two of them kept up the solemn atmosphere for a total of five seconds before they burst out laughing.

"Alright, now show me what you've really been working on" Kyo said with a grin.

* * *

The first two weeks Yuki lived with Ayame proved to be both challenging and oddly calming, as he hadn't come into contact with anyone from the main house during that time. His brother hadn't made a move yet to use Yuki's position as the rat to further his own economic needs, which would in turn spur an angry phone call from their mother. Chisame Sohma didn't like to be kept out of the loop for very long when came to Yuki. She would not be pleased at the development that he was spending less time with Akito now that he'd moved out. Chisame was of the belief that Yuki would one day be head of the family, because of the way Akito seemed to favor him, despite reality behind Akito's treatment of him.

Finally Yuki, after letting these thoughts wear him down, reached a breaking point and asked his brother the question he'd been dying to know the answer to.

"Why do you want me here with you?" Yuki asked, cutting off Ayame's usual breakfast chatter.

There were five minutes of surprisingly uninterrupted silence before his brother spoke. Yuki held his breath and waiting for the words he'd been expecting to hear all along.

"Because someone showed me what it was to truly be afraid of being rejected by other people" Ayame replied. "I immediately realized that I'd done the same to you, my only little brother, and want to repair the bond I once unconscionably shattered."

"That can't be true."

"And why may I ask, couldn't it?"

"Because no one ever cares about _me_! Mom and Dad are only in it for Akito's approval and the money they get out of it! Even you didn't care about me for the longest time. Why should I believe you're any different from any of them?"

"I never realized how much you've suffered because...I only saw what I wanted to see. Hari was right...all those years ago." Then Ayame stopped speaking and without warning pulled Yuki out of his chair and wrapped him in a hug so tight Yuki thought his lungs might burst. "Now it is up to me to end your eternal suffering so that you may one day be able to bridge the waters of your humanity without tears springing from the burning very depths of your soul! Can't you see the love I have for you, Yuki...how incomparable it is to even the grandest passions in our mostly highly acclaimed epics! We are brothers tied by the unfathomable bonds of blood and ungodly affection never to be parted-!"

"I believe you, yes, just...let me...breathe, will you?" Yuki managed to get out amidst his brother's suffocating hold.

Ayame loosened his hold slightly and Yuki managed to wiggle his way out of it completely. His brother, rather than being offended by this, fixed him with his usual excitable expression of joy.

"You do? You have no idea how-!"

"I mean you're still...more than a little strange, and I won't even pretend to understand even half of what you just told me, but you're honest" Yuki continued Ayame off before he could start another ridiculous monologue. "No one's ever said those things to me before. I...sort of like it. Not the ridiculous parts, but the rest of it."

"If you're going to stay we'll need to find you a school and ah yes, I can make you the prefect accessory to add some luster to your school uniform!"

"School?" Yuki said suddenly very interested in the topic of conversation. "Where would I go?"

"Anywhere you wish, my dear little brother!" Ayame answered with genuine enthusiasm. "We can begin looking tomorrow if you wish. Perhaps at dawn so that we may get the most out of the glorious rays the sun seems to be favoring us with before the cold winter snows continuously drown out its beauty until the first breath of spring once again brings life to..."

Yuki blocked the rest of the nonsensical monologue out and began to process the more important part of his brother's reply. He could go back to school after years of being privately tutored in the main house. This meant meeting people, other boys even and being able to talk with people and say things that wouldn't get back to Akito. Provided he was careful about who he said them to and that he stayed far away from any physical contact with girls, this arrangement with Ayame could turn out to be a very good thing for him after all.

Though he did have to wonder why Mine worked for Ayame both as a housekeeper and at his shop. Was she only there to direct the cleaning service Ayame hired once a week before starting her normal duties as his assistant?

Yuki shook his head on second thought he didn't want to know, figuring out his brother's motivations for doing anything always required more thought than it should. So he opted to avoid that topic of discussion for now in favor of finding a more productive way to spend the morning.

After some intimately decisive thinking Yuki finally decided on a middle school he felt comfortable attending, and who entrance exams he passed with flying colors. The rest of the year was spent attending his finishing his private tutoring lessons and oddly enough, learning how to sew from his brother. That is, when Ayame finally stopped babbling about the various garments he'd made for clients during the last couple of years.

* * *

Yuki attended his middle school entrance ceremony with Ayame, Hatori, and surprisingly Shigure standing in as members of his family. Then he followed the other students to the room where various members of each school club were advertising membership of their respective groups in hopes of encouraging the first years to join.

When he finally returned home that day Yuki was greeted by an unusually serious Ayame.

"Our dear mother decided to honor me with a phone call to...ensure your welfare while in my care" Ayame informed him. "It would seem that she disapproves of you living here with me. No surprise really, she doesn't like having you out of her sight for very long."

Yuki lowered his head so that his hair overshadowed the fearful look in his eyes.

Ayame shifted his head slightly, reading the signs of his brother's growing anxiety.

"In the past her and the man who fathered us all but gave custody of you over to the main house. So I informed her only recourse would be to take her objections to the head of the family" he continued. "Unsurprisingly she seemed reluctant to arrange a meeting between herself and Akito. So I believe we've lost her for a while, though not as long as I'd prefer. Regrettably, she'll probably attempt to corner one or both of us before the New Years banquet to say her piece then."

"You-you told her to go away" Yuki said, a little in awe. No one had ever done that to his mother before and now Ayame had done just that, solely for him. "Th-thank you, Ayame."

His brother smiled slightly, but didn't break into his usual monologue.

"After what happened to Hari, I'm loath to let you set foot near Akito even at New Years, but it can't be helped. I'll have to find a way to distract any attention that comes our way, so he won't get suspicious."

"They-they never listened, our parents...when I tried to tell them about Akito. If I complain about you a little and make it seem like living here is...a bit strange, then they might leave us alone" Yuki said, hoping he hadn't offended Ayame entirely.

"And do you, like living here?"

"Yes" Yuki replied honestly. "It's v-yes I like it here very much and I want to stay. That is if you don't mind."

Ayame's usual smile sprang to life in response and he enveloped Yuki in an affectionate but constrictive hug, before launching into one of his usual monologues. Yuki found he was starting to get used to those, silly as Ayame's speeches were, they'd come to represent the type of familial affection and acknowledgement that he'd craved so very much during his childhood.

_Maybe Hatori was wrong,_ Yuki mused, _maybe I am better off here, away from the main house. Even after hearing about Kana and knowing that if I say the wrong thing I'll have to deal with Akito's wrath, I feel...safer here than I ever have. Its making me feeling a bit braver. Suddenly I understand why my brother does things the way he does, even if his suggestions are more than a little insane._

* * *

Kyo had been more than a little annoyed when one of those Yankee girls started talking to Tohru and following her around on their first day of middle school. He knew enough about his Aunt Kyoko's past, the hard road she'd taken in order to leave the gang, and the beatings she'd had to endure to be more than a little wary of the blonde girl. Kyo hoped she wasn't trying to recruit Tohru, though he highly doubted his aunt would take such overtures being made toward her daughter kindly. Kyoko's response would be explosive at best. So he skipped out on playing soccer with a few of the boys from class to walk home with Tohru and her new acquaintance just to be sure.

"Whose this guy?" the blonde girl said, jerking a thumb in Kyo's direction as Kyo walked over them.

"Oh that's my cousin Kyo Honda" Tohru explained. "Weren't you going somewhere today, Kyo?"

"Not anymore" he said. "Who're you?"

"Uotani Arisa. What's it to ya?"

"Nothing, except you seem to be hanging around Tohru and I wanted to know why" Kyo responded coolly.

"Oh Uotani was just being friendly after I made her drop her books earlier, Kyo" Tohru responded in an effort to cut the tension and keep her from getting the wrong idea. "Well that and she wanted to meet Mom."

"Aunt Kyoko? Why?"

"You're pretty nosy aren't you Honda? Why do you think. I want to meet the legendary Red Butterfly" Arisa proclaimed proudly. "I heard she was living around here."

"She isn't a Yankee anymore if that's what you're thinking" Kyo responded, eye brow raised. This girl could be trouble. "She's different from what you're imagining."

"Oh c'mon, the Red Butterfly would never be tied down like that" Arisa said matter-of-factly.

"It's not like that, you know. She has a family, because she wanted one" Kyo added.

"Why would someone like that change for anyone?" Arisa asked with an accusatory glare. "What god given right did they think they had forcing her to-"

"Aunt Kyoko changed because she found someone who cared about her" Kyo said, folding his arms.

"Her damned parents must have arranged it! The Red Butterfly would never-"

"Do you have cotton balls in your ears, Yankee? I just said that she found someone on her own."

"No Kyo was telling the truth. Mom stopped being in her gang right before she married Dad." Tohru explained. "Mom...doesn't talk much about her parents."

"No way! I refuse to believe it. I have to see this for myself!"

Kyo was not in the least bit surprised when Arisa Uotani left his aunt's house that day in a bitter disappointment. Aunt Kyoko had been rather encouraging toward the girl and attempted to convince her that the family lifestyle wasn't all that bad. Arisa kept arguing the point and in turn asking Kyoko about her days as Yankee. Any discussion ended when Katsuya arrived home and Tohru began setting out the plates for dinner.

Thinking he'd seen the last of this Arisa, Kyo bid his aunt and cousin good night and headed home.

The next day he was treated to the sight of the Yankee girl sitting at his and Tohru's lunch table. He wasn't sure what to make of it until he noticed she was reading one of their school text books. Shaking his head at the odd image Kyo found a seat beside Tohru and said nothing as he watched his cousin try to explain some of their homework to other girl.

"Some things never change" Kyo muttered to himself.

"What was that Honda?" Arisa said turning to look at him with a mild glare.

"What's it to _you_, Yankee?"

"None of your business Mr. Nosy."

"Didn't wanna know anyway."

"Then quit askin'."

"I wasn't. Where the hell've you been?"

After school the next day Kyo went off to his martial arts class secure in the knowledge that after meeting Kyoko, Uotani wasn't likely to cross her by harming Tohru in any way. Despite the way she lived now his aunt was still a tough person, one who would do anything to protect her daughter.

* * *

Two weeks after they met Arisa Uotani, who'd begun to sit at their lunch table more often than not, something happened to change Kyo's opinion of the girl. He'd noticed that Arisa had begun accepting help from Tohru on some of their assignments and would have accused her of cheating off his cousin, if he hadn't found Arisa helping Tohru with her math homework.

Then one Wednesday Kyo and his mother went over to have dinner with his aunt, uncle, and cousin only to find that Kyoko and Katsuya had gone out looking for Uotani.

"A girl came to the door and told us something bad was going to happen to Arisa" Tohru explained nearly in tears.

Kyo patted his cousin awkwardly on the head and told her "That Yankee-she'll be fine. She's pretty tough."

Tohru hugged him in response, which caused him to transform almost instantaneously, but he let her, knowing she needed that type of comfort right now. In the meantime his mother had gone into Kyoko's medicine cabinet and started taking out gauze and bandages just in case. When he finally transformed back, she called for him to start some tea, while she reheated their dinner.

Eventually the other two Honda's returned supporting a severely battered Arisa, wrapped in Katsuya's coat, much to their relief. Kyo took out another plate and filled it while his aunt, mother, and cousin set about patching up the poor girl.

"Calling an ambulance was far too risky when we weren't sure of the response she'd get at home" Katsuya explained to his nephew.

"Is that what happened with Aunt Kyoko?" Kyo asked pensively.

"More or less, though they waited until after she'd left the hospital to formally disown her" his uncle replied.

"Monsters." Kyo said solemnly, tightening his fist around the dishrag he'd been holding.

"Some people are like that" Katsuya said with a mild expression. "They don't realize that they themselves will one day be alone, because of it."

After that Arisa Uotani became another fixture in their lives and Kyo did become used to her presence, even if they still tended to snipe at one another on a daily basis.

* * *

A month later Kyo was late to lunch because he was trying to avoid to avoid Motoko Minagawa from class 8-C again. The girl had decided that Kyo was her latest romantic obsession and it was starting to get extremely annoying.

When he finally reached the he noticed some of the first years from the baseball team picking on Saki Hanajima the new transfer student. Kyo didn't believe any of those stupid rumors claiming Hanajima was some kind of witch. The girl did tend to dress all in black and while that combined with her usual expression were creepy as hell at times, that didn't mean she deserved the type of bullying she was getting.

"It's lunch time, what're you guys still doing here?" Kyo said as he watched several boys from the team surround the Hannajima in the hallway near the locker room.

"Hanajima here's a witch" one of them explained pointing in her direction for emphasis.

"Yeah, I heard she nearly killed someone at her old school by cursing him. We wanted to see if it was true" his teammate piped up.

Kyo raised a speculative eyebrow.

"Didn't peg you lot for the superstitious types" he said blandly. "Looks to me like you were just picking on the new girl, because you couldn't get any of the others to even look at you."

"What'd you say Honda?"

"You heard me. That story sounds worse than your usual excuses, Komei. Just because you made the team doesn't mean you can force someone to talk to you" Kyo said in an effort to distract their attention, albeit overdoing it a bit. "You're better off working on your batting average instead."

"Those are fighting words Honda!" the boy said shaking a fist in Kyo's direction.

"Hey, she's walking away" one of the other boys, Yamato thought his name was, said. "This isn't over Hanajima!"

"Looks pretty over to me" Kyo said turning to follow her. Then he felt a sharp pain spread through him stemming from the back of his head. Kyo whipped around only to find his attacker collapse on the floor in front of him. Glancing back he saw Hanajima giving the boy one of her piercing glares before turning to leave once more.

Once he made certain that Komei was still breathing Kyo ran after her.

"Wait, did you-"

"Don't-don't come near me" Hanajima said refusing to looked at him. "I'm grateful for what you did, but I don't want to hurt you."

"It takes a lot to hurt me" Kyo replied placing a hand on the back of his head only to wince when the pain returned. "I don't know what you did, but thank you. Komei, he's always been a bit of a jerk."

"That doesn't mean it was right, what I did...I'm a danger to other people."

"You're just a little different" Kyo said. "You should eat lunch with us. We're not that normal either."

Hanajima turned to look at him for the first time and raised a curious eyebrow.

"Yes, you're definitely a strange person" she said "but I don't mind that very much."

"Er...thanks I think."

Arisa's response to their newest addition was instantaneous.

"So you found another one. Getting pretty popular with the girls, aren't you?"

"Knock it off Uotani. You're the one who started sitting with us" Kyo shot back.

"Riling you up isn't nearly as fun from over there" Arisa responded jabbing her thumb at the tables on the other side of the room. "So whose this anyway?"

"This is Hanajima Saki. She's new here."

"Hanajima this is Arisa Uotani, a complete pain in the butt, and this is my cousin Tohru Honda."

"Pleased to meet you" Hanajima said in a reserved tone.

Three days later, once Hanajima felt comfortable in the knowledge that she wasn't going to be asked to leave, she related her story to the three of them. She'd always had this strange power to sense waves that told her how people were feeling or whether they were doing something good or bad. However the students at her old school had all been afraid of her after she'd nearly killed a boy for trying to attack her at her old school. That was why she now dressed herself in all black as penance for what almost killing someone. Something her little brother Megumi had begun to do as well in an effort to make his sister fell less alone with problems. After that the rumors tended to followed her from one school to another usually ending with her inevitable transfer. Her family had even moved to Tokyo last month in hopes of giving her a fresh start.

Kyo felt an increasing amount of sympathy for this girl, not to mention empathy after remembering how tough his old life had been.

"You won't hurt us" he said. "There are people out there who want to hurt others and I'm pretty sure you aren't one of them."

Arisa shrugged.

"We're pretty tough." she said. "Even Kyo."

"And just what's that supposed to mean?" Kyo asked raising an annoyed eyebrow. "You have something ta say, Yankee?"

"Just an observation."

Arisa swept her hair to the side in a curt motion.

"What're you blind?"

"I'm really glad to meet you Hana" Tohru said giving the girl her most cheerful smile, completely ignoring the bickering between her cousin and friend. "Oh I forgot to ask if it was okay if I called you Hana. Do you mind or I can just call you Hanajima if you'd prefer-"

"No, I...really don't mind" Hanajima replied with an almost smile. "Those two, they're really good friends aren't they?"

Tohru nodded.

"Oh they always do that" she said "but they're both very kind and Uo's been helping me with my math homework. Would you like to join our study group?"

Hanajima blinked at her, as she considered the unexpected invitation.

"I would like that very much. Thank you, Tohru. Would you need me to bring any snacks?"

Tohru shook her head.

"No don't worry about it, my mom always has plenty around the house. It's just the three of us after all."

"Do the two of you live together?" Hanajima asked referring to Kyo.

"Kyo lives down the street with grandfather and Aunt Hisano" Tohru explained. "It's just Dad, Mom, and me at my house."

"My family is similar although I have a little brother, Megumi and my grandmother has come to live with us."

"You have a big family then" Tohru commented. "That must be nice. What's Megumi like?"

"He's smart for his age. I'm always surprised by how much he understands about what's going on around him" Hanajima said honestly. "Though we look nothing alike. You wouldn't even know we were siblings."

* * *

Saki Hanajima was one of the very few people who were aware of Kyo's curse, because her psychic abilities allowed her to sense the spiritual waves, that resembled electric signals, which made up a person's aura. She had worked with her abilities over the years in an effort to prevent another incident like the one in elementary school from ever happening again. For this reason she'd become very adept as sensing emotions, intentions, and the overall state of a person's mind. She'd once used this solely to protect her family, but now that she had friends who were willing to accept her, they had been granted the same privilege.

Kyo Sohma was no exception. She'd sensed there was something radically different about his electric signals, because she could feel a second set entwined with the first, which she'd instinctively associated with the word: cat. After weeks of discreet attempts to puzzle through each of the possibilities, she glimpsed her friend transform into a cat on a rainy Saturday afternoon. She'd been about to call out to Tohru and Kyo who were caught out in the rain so she could offer to let them share her umbrella. Instead Hanajima watched as Tohru tripped and Kyo accidentally crashed into her, seemingly resulting in him turning into a small orange cat. The street had been empty except for herself and her friends, so Saki felt safe in the knowledge that no one else had witnessed the event.

_I shouldn't intrude_, she thought as she watched Tohru picked up Kyo and his strewn clothing. _It's clear that he doesn't want anyone to know about his curse. Even though I truly want to help them in this moment, I don't know how either of them will react to my knowing the truth._

In the end Saki decided against calling out to Tohru and giving her assistance. Tohru had managed to collect Kyo in her arms as well as their scattered belongings and run for home in a matter of minutes, so Hanajima wasn't too concerned. After some serious thought she decided to keep this secret to herself, forever if need be. These were two of the first friends she'd ever made after years of near social isolation by her peers. Saki couldn't allow herself to lose them by revealing what she knew.

_I could tell them if I were to break it,_ Hanajima thought, _then they might forgive me for such an intrusion. There seems to be a bond between both of Kyo's waves and another person's. It's weak now as if it hasn't been acknowledged for year. If I can break it then this secret would no longer exist and my knowing wouldn't matter any longer._

* * *

Tohru and Kyo had managed to recollect themselves in a nearby alley, however they were still stranded in the rain.

"There's a shop over here, Kyo, maybe we should step in and dry off" Tohru suggested after peering around the corner.

"Anything to get out of this...rain" Kyo replied with great effort. "I can't stand it when it downpours like this."

"I'm sorry I said we should go out today" Tohru offered. "It was supposed to be sunny all day, but I should have at least brought an umbrella in case."

"It...you shouldn't...let's just get somewhere out of the rain" Kyo said finally. "You didn't...cause this to happen."

His cousin looked back at him worriedly, but forestalled any further conversation in favor of leading him into the nearby shop.

"You two love birds are attempting to escape this dreadful deluge, no doubt" the shopkeeper said when he greeted them. He was a tall man with long white hair and eyes that were almost a liquid gold shade of hazel. "Feel free to look around if you wish. A day like this can bring about many such youthful fantasies. I myself once-"

There was a loud "ahem" from another corner of the shop interrupted the tirade, for which Kyo was grateful.

Kyo had already decided the man was getting on his last nerve. Then fortunately, the shopkeeper's speech had been interrupted by a gray haired teen who looked to be about his and Tohru's age.

"Brother" the boy said with a sigh. loud enough for shopkeeper to hear. "I think they were looking to get dry more than anything else."

The shopkeeper peered at them speculatively.

"I suppose you're right, Yuki" he said. "How rude of me not to have offered you tea and some warmer apparel. Mine dear, we have company!"

Kyo blinked as the shopkeeper, Ayame, had walked over and started talking to someone behind a blue curtain.

_What've we gotten ourselves into now?_ he thought, as he shuffled uncomfortably as the water dripped down his neck.

"You'll have to excuse Ayame" the gray haired teen said grabbing some towels from behind a counter and walking over to Kyo and Tohru with them. "He means well. It's just that he tends to go a little overboard sometimes. You might as well wait here for the rain to stop."

"Thank you. That is, we're very grateful" Tohru answered as she took the towel she was handed and attempted to dry her hair and face.

Kyo simply nodded and took his towel as well, enjoying the feel of it against his saturated skin. Anything that took away some of the energy draining dampness was a welcome change at this point.

"Thank you" Kyo said quietly as he looked up at the shopkeeper's brother, and found the other boy had the most unusual set of violet hazel eyes. In the back of his mind Kyo felt a long ago memory try to claw its way to the forefront only to fade before he could fully grasp any meaning from it. Like a part of him had felt an unbidden connection he'd never known existed, only for it to evade him once more.

"Now that I think about it, I have seen you before. You're Honda from class 7-A aren't you?" the boy said-Yuki, Kyo's mind supplied.

"Honda Kyo" Kyo answered, deciding that the reason the boy seemed familiar was that he attended the same middle school. "And you are?"

"Sohma Yuki, Class 7-C."

"Oh that's Hana's class" Tohru said excitedly, even as Kyo could see the worry in her eyes.

"Our friend Hanajima Saki is in your class, you might know her" Kyo clarified, giving Tohru a slight nod. They would both need to be careful if the shopkeeper and his brother from the Sohma clan. It would be difficult to tell if the two had any ties to the family curse.

"Yes I...know her" Yuki replied, realization dawning in his eyes. "Is that, why you looked so surprised?"

Kyo nodded again.

"Hanajima's really quiet about school most of the time. We only see her outside at lunch and after school" he explained. "So it's strange actually meeting one of her classmates."

"She's very nice once you get to know her though" Tohru put in. "She-people tend to believe stories sometimes rather than seeing Hana like a normal person."

"She's not normal" Kyo admitted, "but she's our friend. People tend to misunderstand though and make up stories about her."

"She gets along fine with some of the boys in our class now" Yuki replied. "Although the girls do tend to avoid her at times. I don't really know why."

"That...figures" Kyo replied. "She never really does what people expect her to. She just sort of makes her own way."

"It's better than before" Tohru said quietly.

"No it isn't" Kyo disagreed. "Now she won't shut up about those waves of hers."

"She's just worried about you, Kyo and things do tend to...happen sometimes" Tohru said in a placating tone.

"That thing with Minagawa last week didn't happen because she was worried" Kyo grumbled.

"You did wind up awfully wet" Tohru admitted, trying to hold in her laughter. "It...I'm not sure why Motoko thought that pouring cold water on you would turn you into a girl, but-"

"Hanajima's been reading manga again, that's what happened!" Kyo said. His outburst caused the last of Tohru's resistance to fail and she burst out laughing, tears flowing freely down her face.

Kyo turned to face Yuki realizing the other boy must think they were insane by now, only to find that he too was chuckling lightly at the explanation.

"That-that was you?" Yuki asked, putting a hand against his mouth in an attempt to hide any further amusement. "You have no idea how many of the boys in class wanted that to be true."

"Like they would've had a shot if I was" Kyo bristled, folding his arms against his chest.

"You would've played hard to get?" Yuki asked teasingly.

"No more than you, Sohma" Kyo countered. "You've turned down more girls than anyone in our year."

Yuki looked shocked for a moment, but managed to recollect himself when he realized that Kyo was only teasing him in return.

"Only because I'm their second choice, I'm sure most of them were heartbroken to learn your secret."

Kyo threw the wet towel at him in retribution, which only caused Yuki to laugh before he countered with the one Tohru handed him. This somehow lead to an playful almost sparring match between the two that was quickly broken up by Ayame's return, Mine at his side with a devious look in her eye.

Two hours later the rain let up and the Hondas were finally able to escape the clutches of an overzealous Ayame and Mine. The offer of dry clothes had come at a price as Tohru and Kyo were forced to try on the shopkeeper's latest creations. Kyo being particularly desperate to escape draining feeling his damp clothing brought on as it clung to him. Though the sight of himself in off-white school uniform with embroidered black stitching hadn't been any better.

Yuki for his part had managed to talk Ayame out of torturing their guests over much.

"But Yuki" Mine whispered as she made him help her collect the garments from the behind the curtain. "Don't you want to see Ms. Tohru in a pretty dress."

Yuki looked pensive for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. The idea had merit he supposed, because Tohru was a pretty in her own way.

Mine gave him a speculative glance before snapping her fingers and giving him that same mischievous smile.

"What about Mr. Kyo, wouldn't you like to see him in something like this?" she said hefting the garment up for him to see.

Yuki stared for a moment as if considering her words before catching himself and abruptly turned away, but not before a light blush showed on his cheeks.

"Ms. Kuramae-"

"Mmhmph" Mine hummed triumphantly as she ushered Yuki back into the main room of the shop. "Just as I thought."

Yuki found himself treated to several speculative glances from his brother that were, to his relief, tempered by an underlying amusement. Ayame had seemed to accept everything else about him, so Yuki supposed he shouldn't have been surprised when his older brother didn't bat an eye at his slight attraction to another boy. Better still he knew that this information wouldn't get back to the main house, because Ayame was surprisingly tight lipped about things that mattered. Yuki even suspected that there were things he didn't allow Shigure or Hatori to know about, despite having a very close bond with both of them.

After the Hondas had left the shop, taking their now dried clothing with them, along with an umbrella at Yuki's assistance in case the rain started again, Ayame insisted they close up for an early dinner. He and Mine would return to complete their commissions later in the evening. Now that the rainstorm had subsided and night was slowly creeping up, they didn't expect to have any more customers come in that day.

That night Mine stayed for dinner as usual and had an animated discussion with Ayame about some of their latest cosplay related projects. The two of them inquired as to Yuki's school life and once again offering (threatening) to make him a new school uniform with more flair. To which Yuki politely declined and simultaneously suppressed the urge to strangle the life out of his brother.

Then after Mine had gone home for night, Ayame's demeanor suddenly turned serious and more speculative.

"What you're feeling is beautiful thing, Yuki" he said, "and as your older brother you should know that _I_ will always accept you. However" at this the gleam in Ayame's golden eyes took on a sharper edge "there are others who would seek to crush that same brilliance."

"Akito wouldn't approve" Yuki said as he felt a shiver go down his spine, "because those people on the outside wouldn't accept us."

"Now that's not necessarily true" Ayame mused. "Hari managed to find someone after all while we were in college and she doesn't seem to mind our curse all that much."

Yuki looked up at him in surprise.

"I didn't know."

Ayame looked down somewhat guiltily.

"Well yes...I suppose that you wouldn't have..." he murmured. Then Ayame brightened up slightly. "She's the light of Hari's life. Kana's one of the family even, though her branch didn't know about the curse at all, if you know what I mean. Still she and Hari will probably ride off into the sunset together as it were...at least they would if certain things don't get in the way..."

"I can't understand you when you talk like that. Why can't you just say what you mean?" Yuki mumbled.

"Very well, if that's what you'd prefer little brother. I'll be more direct. I wouldn't mention your romantic preferences to anyone in the main house if I were you" Ayame advised. "They wouldn't appreciate you having an advantage to sidestep the curse as it were. After all, we're only waylaid by the touch of the opposite gender, not one of the same."

"I hadn't thought of it that way" Yuki replied. "The curse wouldn't matter the same way it does now."

"Precisely and that, my dear beloved brother, is exactly what the head of the family is afraid of. We aren't supposed to be able to find any means of escape or have the desire to."

* * *

"You sure you know the way, Red?"

"They're hazel dammit! And yeah, I know exactly where we are."

"Mmmm...it doesn't sound like that to me. No, I think you're worried about getting lost...seeing as how you have such a poor sense of direction and all."

"I told you I know exactly where we are, I've been here a million times with my mother."

"Too bad you didn't bring a compass, you'd have more luck that way, Red."

"I told you to stop calling me that, they're hazel, it's just the light makes them look like that."

Arisa snorted.

"Either way you're weird."

"What's it to you, Yankee" Kyo retorted. "At least I didn't get detention again for bringing a lead pipe to school."

"And let those snot nosed fan club girls hassle me again, I think not. That Motoko's got it in for you, Red, you'd better watch it." Arisa replied.

"It's not my fault she decided she's in love with Yuk-Sohma after I turned her down" Kyo said with a groan of exasperation. "I didn't even know she'd gotten those first years to go along with her until yesterday."

"Well well, since when do you call him by his first name?"

"I don't. Those damned girls kept using it and I just got caught up is all. Why do you care, _Arisa_?"

"I was afraid you were chickening out on us and going to hang out with prince charming instead, _Kyo_" she shot back.

Kyo gave her a speculative look.

"As a matter of fact, he wants to sit with us instead."

"Wait. At lunch? You've got to be kidding me. Why the hell would he want to hang around with us?"

"Because the rest of the damned school won't give him any peace and he knows we don't give a damn about anything" Kyo replied.

Arisa raised an eyebrow and folded her arms for good measure.

"Well what do you know, how the mighty have fallen."

"He's more normal when you actually get the chance to talk to him" Kyo explained.

"We'll see about that" Arisa said. "So are we gonna do this or what?"

Kyo peered down at his mother's shopping list and then eyed the store on the corner thoughtfully.

"That place usually sells misao ingredients fresh" he said. "We start there."

"Finally" Arisa muttered. "You're worse than an old lady, can't make a decision every time we go out."

"Well we had to walk it, so of course it's going to take longer" Kyo argued. "It's not like either of us can drive."

"Someday I will and when that happens I'm getting the hell out of my old man's place."

"Where ya gonna go anyway?" Kyo asked, mildly curious.

"Someplace quiet." Arisa answered thoughtfully. "Like out in the country. Where people aren't watching you all the time. Judging you."

"It's because you insist on dressing like that. Why don't you just dress like a girl instead?"

"I dress how I wanna dress. What about you, why don't you stop dressing like such a sissy and wear black?" Arisa fired back.

"Then I'd look like some damn walking talking shadow between that and my hair" Kyo retorted. "Hey, there's a kid out in the street-what's she doing?"

Arisa blinked and turned to look in the same direction. There in traffic was a young girl who couldn't have been more than five or six with long blonde hair, almost the same shade as her own.

With some effort she and Kyo managed to coax the girl out of the crosswalk before the light changed. A man they assumed to be the girl's father had come running out of a nearby store and took her by the hand.

"Thank you" he said. "I must apologize for my daughter. She slipped right out of my hands. Keiko, you have to stay with either I or your mother. You can't be running off like this."

"It's fine" Kyo answered, and Arisa nodded her assent.

"But...toy store" Keiko answered. "'s over there."

"I know sweetie, but you have to wait for us" her father chastened. "You know to hold someone's hand before you cross the street. I was very afraid I'd lost you."

"We'll see you" Arisa said. "We have to finish-"

"Keiko! You _know_ you're not supposed to do things like this!" said a woman's voice from behind Arisa. It was a very familiar voice...one that made Arisa's expression immediately darken.

Arisa turned around and with a glare, she grabbed Kyo's hand and ushered him away from this woman and her family.

"Uotani, what're you-?" Kyo started to say, before he got a good look at the young girl's mother. She was the spitting image of Arisa. "Wait, that's not-"

"Kyo...I can't stay here...with them! Arisa said trying to get them far away from this family as quickly as possible. Before her resistance failed and she lashed out at her mother or wall beside her.

"She looked pretty shocked" Kyo commented after they were good distance down the street. "That's her, isn't it?"

Arisa nodded numbly, fists clenched so hard they had a nearly bloodless pallor.

Kyo felt a great deal of sympathy for his friend in that moment. He didn't even really know what he'd do if he saw his own father again someday after everything the man had done. It was unfathomable that the mother who'd left her daughter alone with an alcoholic father, at least Kyo presumed Arisa's father had been one before hand, and run off with her new boyfriend, now dared to have another child after leaving abandoning her first.

"C'mon let's get some lunch" Kyo said. "Mom will understand if we don't finish everything today. It's all-that's...she isn't worth it, Arisa. That bitch, she shouldn't...just be able to walk away from everything like that."

* * *

That night after Arisa left Kyo's house, having stayed for dinner after a worried Hisano Honda had heard about what'd occurred during their shopping trip, she felt her grim mood descend once more during the walk home. Arisa hadn't thought she was still capable of crying after the many years spent alone in her room or out on the streets. Her father had completely shut himself off when her mother left, descending into a life of habitual drinking, completely neglecting his daughter. An old faded photograph told Arisa that she looked startlingly like her mother and it hadn't taken much effort to figure out that it was the same reason why her father avoided her as much as possible. The only emotions he ever seemed to feel were reserved for the characters on a tv screen.

Life hadn't been pleasant for her up until she'd started associating with the Hondas and Hanajima. They'd been her first real friends, with the exception of the older girl from her gang who'd gotten help in the form of Kyoko and Katsuya, before the other members could beat her to death. Having friends had made life better and gave her a reason to come to school more often.

Today though, the twisted pain of seeing her mother from a close distance had sent her reeling. Arisa would have forgotten what the woman looked like if she it were possible to forget the face of one's own mother. Especially when said mother was the one who'd come looking for another girl, another daughter, that wasn't Arisa.

The same girl she and Kyo had helped, and the one who had everything Arisa didn't...from her own mother.

She wanted to kick something. Hit something. Kill something.

"What right does she have. Who told her she could just stop being my mother anytime she wanted to..."

It just...life wasn't fair. Not when her mother could look so happy to be without her. Had never tried to contact her to tell her that she had a _sister_, never mind that she was nearby to Tokyo.

"What right does she have to live like that and be happy...with someone new...when she left us just like that! Left me with him...my father...doesn't care if I..."

She wanted to-Arisa would have punched the nearest stone wall if she hadn't spun around only to notice a young boy sitting on that very wall and staring down at her. His hair was a brilliant yellow blond shade, the brightest she'd ever seen and his eyes held a glimmer of nearly the same color amidst light brown irises. He appeared to be watching her with great interest, unafraid despite her clothing, face mask, and sharpness of her expression.

_Doesn't this kid know anything about people like me,_ Arisa thought. _He should watch himself, he'd be an easy target because so young. And...what the hell is he doing out at night?_

This was one strange kid.

"I heard what you were saying, you know and I think...I understand" he said.

"Why would you even care?" Arisa asked harshly. "You can't even look after yourself. Being out at night like this. Why would you even-"

"Because no one's waiting for me at home either" he answered. "My father only sees me on days when my mother and sister go out."

That made Arisa stop short.

"What-why aren't you with them?"

"Because my mother doesn't know about me, she didn't...want to remember" he continued. "So when she finally got better after being sick, she chose to forget about me. I wanted...her to get better."

"Why would...did you do something...people don't like kids who're problems" Arisa clarified. "Did you break something? Did they hurt you?"

"It's nothing like that. My mother she thought I was cursed, because...there's this superstition in my father's family" the boy said, once again not really explaining anything. "But I thought maybe you'd understand, because of what you said."

"That's-but where do you live?"

"At the main house. The Sohma family owns a lot of property around here" he replied. "Would it be alright if I asked your name?"

Arisa sighed.

" Uotani." she said. "Arisa."

"Sohma Momiji. Nice to meet you Ms. Uotani."

"It's just Arisa" she replied. "You shouldn't think that's right. Your mother, she had no right to just cut you out like that."

Momiji smiled a little more at this, though there was more than a tinge of sadness in it.

"So what happened...with your mother?"

She told him.

"Then she's foolish" Momiji said. "She doesn't know what a good person you are. She's missing out on something great."

"You don't even know me" Arisa countered.

"That's doesn't mean I can't tell you're a good person. No one else stopped to see why I was here all alone."

"You started talking" Arisa defended.

"You actually looked at me, when other people just walked by without a care in the world." Momiji revealed.

"You shouldn't have been out alone, what're you stupid?"

Momiji only laughed.

"I wanted to get away for awhile. I don't see Papa until next week."

"You should be more careful, it's not safe this late."

"What about you, Arisa?"

"It's different for me, I'm used to being out late. Sometimes I used to fight girls who were just like me with people who didn't care what happened to them."

"Oh" Momiji said as he seemed to realized what she meant.

"I don't-I'm not like that anymore, but used to think it helped with the loneliness" she told him. "It didn't work. My friends and their families helped me get out."

"I won't change what I said" Momiji stated. "I might have done that if I didn't have Papa and Haru and Hatori."

The two of them conversed well into the night and the evening ended with Arisa seeing Momiji to the gates of his family's home before quietly taking her leave.

She thought she'd seen the last of Momiji, as she doubted his apparently affluent family, judging by the size of their main house, would want him associating with someone like her. Then on Wednesday that next week Momiji met her at the gates of the school, even though his uniform told her he attended a different institution, and insisted they walk home together. Arisa's friends just watched, bewildered, as she left with a young boy they'd never seen before.

Yuki on the hand recognized his cousin, the rabbit of the zodiac, almost immediately upon arrival.

"Momiji..." he said under his breath. "What is he doing here?"

Then he saw Momiji walk out with Arisa Uotani and wondered how the two of the could possibly know each other and what could possibly be going on.

Arisa treated Momiji slightly different than she did her other friends. He was...a kindred spirit of sorts and it was refreshing to have someone actually exactly how she felt. There were things she couldn't share with Kyo, Tohru, and Hana, in the way she would have liked to. Whereas Momiji had already been down a similar path with his own mother and would always have to work through the same issues that Arisa herself was continuously being forced to confront.

Sometimes they would go out on a weekend to places in Tokyo that were far enough away from any that Momiji's father frequents. People, store clerks, elderly women, would sometimes ask them if they were siblings and after a while Momiji started answering yes.

_He really is lonely in that house, surrounded by people,_ she thought. _ It might...be nice to have a little brother, even if it isn't real...sometimes. Maybe I'll feel less disappointed...and dislike Keiko less. Even if she doesn't know...maybe I can replace her with someone else that I actually care about._

The next time she warned Momiji against something for his own safety, Arisa made sure to start with "Listen to your older sister kid..." and Momiji rewarded her with the brightest smile she'd ever seen, even compared to one of Tohru's larger than life ones.

It made Arisa feel less alone...and she tried to stop thinking about Keiko altogether. Even though she never quite succeeded.

* * *

Arisa boldly stepped in front of the television and held out a bowl of miso soup so close to her father's face it blurred his vision.

"You're going to start taking care of yourself, old man" she said matter-of-factly. "Even if it means laying off the booze a bit."

"You can't talk...to me...li..hke...that" Aiji Uotani slurred in reply, though it was a struggle for him after the amount of sake he'd consumed that afternoon.

"I saw _that woman_ when I went shopping with Kyo last week" Arisa bit out.

"You saw..." her father said, as his expression sobered a bit. "Eimiko...?"

"Yeah, and you know what she had? Oh whole new damn family!"

"She's here...in Tokyo...?"

"I'm not..." Arisa ground her teeth a bit and ran her tongue over them as she tried to think of a proper response. "I'm not mad at you, old man. I mean you're lousy as an adult, but you kept me when some other guy probably would have flung me out on the street for good. No, what I want to tell you is that she has another kid now. _We're_ all each other has! She's...never coming back."

"I know...I've...known that" Aiji muttered. "I drove her a...way. You look...just...like her. Din't...mean ta drink...sooo...mush...it jus' kept everything...away..."

"Well I need you to do something for me and then..." Arisa told him. "I need you to live for me. Until I finish high school, I want you to at least try take care of yourself. Because if anything happens, they're going to try to put me with her and I am _not_ going to live with that woman if something-"

"Number's under the phone...make me a do'hter's apointment...then" he said.

Arisa nodded and put the soup bowl into his hands along with a fresh spoon.

"I won't say it but I'm gra...I...will you just lay off the sake before we go."

* * *

Kyo was making his way down to lunch after a long afternoon of sitting in class, when out of nowhere Yuki appeared not quite dashing, but swiftly making his way down the hall in Kyo's direction.

"I need you to help me stay out of sight or at least-" Yuki started.

Kyo snorted lightly.

"You know, I did tell ya to sit with us at lunch if you wanted" he said. "No one's going to mind. Arisa'll think it's funny that our table's gotten bigger again."

"She, well yes Ms. Uotani would" Yuki answered. "Are you sure? You just got rid of Motokyo last term."

"I can't stand those fangirls of yours" Kyo stated. "They don't even see you as a person, just something to be looked at no matter how...anyway stick with us and maybe they'll back off eventually."

"I just wish I knew why they were so adamant about it" Yuki said looking thoughtful. "I don't know what it is they're seeing in me that would make them want to...follow me all the time."

"You're...a good person and they think you're special" Kyo said biting his tongue a little. "They just go about it in a creepy unhealthy way. Besides, it's almost Valentine's, I wouldn't leave you to face that" he gestured toward two girls who were peering at he and Yuki from around a corner "alone. You still owe me a sparring match after all."

Yuki favored him with an amused look.

"Is that all you ever think about, martial arts and food once in awhile?"

"English isn't so bad either" Kyo said automatically. Then he stopped. "Hey wait, are you saying I'm simple, Sohma?"

"You do seem to put certain things above all others, but no that's not what I meant" Yuki said with a light chuckle. "I was referring to your mentioning what I said in the shop at least once every day since then."

"I'm curious, what can I say" Kyo admitted. "I've had one of the best teachers, but never gotten the chance to test my skills against anyone who wasn't a fellow student of his."

"Interesting. Are you comparing your skills to mine or your master's?" Yuki inquired.

"My own and our teacher doesn't like being called master, he says it gives him unnecessary airs" Kyo replied.

Yuki's was a little surprised to hear something that sounded very similar to what his own instructor insisted upon. Surely Kazuma...

"What...was his name?"

Kyo eyed him curiously.

"That's right, I forgot the two of you have the same last name...I just never had a reason to think that you two might know one another" he said.

"You-Kazuma taught you too?"

Kyo nodded.

"He's been helping out at another dojo a few days a week for years, ever since the old master started getting sick."

"Well perhaps I will have to spar you then" Yuki said, the corner of his mouth curving upward slightly. "We'll have to see who was the better student."

"Count on it" Kyo replied. "Just don't cry too hard when you lose."

"I could say the same, Kyo" Yuki said turning to walk toward the lunch area.

Kyo snorted again and made to follow him before stopping short. He realized that Yuki had called him by his first name again and found he didn't really mind all that much.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts after noticing Yuki had turned back look at him in askance, Kyo moved over toward him, and the two of them made their way down the stairs to where the girls were waiting.

The day after that Yuki found that he was once again welcome at the lunch table where Kyo, Tohru, Arisa, and Saki usually sat. He still insisted upon calling, at least the girls, by their last names as a formal gesture, though Uotani seemed determined to break him of the habit. Over the next month he learned that each of them, Kyo included, had their own stories to tell of hard times and bitter experiences. Though fortunately it seemed they too had managed to reach a much better place in lives and seemed content with them for now.

Valentine's chocolate was traded between all of them, regardless of tradition, though he and Kyo had the same idea about getting the girls something equally suitable for white day. That and Kyo himself had gotten Yuki a box of chocolate adorned with a cream colored ribbon edged with lavender highlights. He couldn't help but think that Kyo did know a little about him after all and likewise seemed to reciprocate his desire to become friends.

Although he was more than a little nervous about spending time with girls after a certain disastrous event from his childhood. Fortunately these girls seemed to understand that he wasn't much for physical contact of any kind, even concerning light gestures of affection. Unexpectedly though all three more than made up for it in Valentine's chocolate, meant as a token of friendship and in sharp contrast to the bags that had found their way into Yuki's shoe-locker that day. All of the bags marked with the names of the same girls who liked to follow him around, and the biggest of which belonged to Motoko Minagawa herself.

"I can't keep them" Yuki told Kyo that afternoon as the other boy watched him clean out his desk, "but I don't feel right just throwing them away."

"So don't keep them, give them to someone who won't care where they're from" Kyo advised.

"There is someone I might be able to give them to" Yuki said pensively. "I think I'll stop by there on my way home."

That night Shigure found himself surrounded by a pile of delicious looking chocolates and decided to enjoy at least half of them with some well aged sake.

"Valentine's chocolate, all for me!"

* * *

_Author's Note:_ I'm not using honorifics at all in this fic. It takes up too much time and cuts into fairly decent dialogue and makes it a bit long winded. This is more the case with English dialogue, but hence my preference for not using them.

Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki are ages 8 to 14 in this part.


	3. Part 3

_Author's Note:_ There are a few things I'd like to warn for in this final chapter. It contains a minor incident with some minor nonconsensual contact. This doesn't cover any of the archive warnings I assure you, I simply felt the need to mention it in case it makes anyone feel uncomfortable. Or rather "more" uncomfortable than one would normally feel about a fictional incident. I would understand completely if you did.

The actions several adult characters take in response to said incident is not normal nor is it proper. However their first instinct is to keep one particular character safe and the nature of the curse as well as family hierarchy won't let them do that through normal channels.

Also there is a sex scene, which isn't very explicit if you can believe it. You can easily skip it if you wish.

I'd also like to thank _cursedgirls13_, _XIII-Jinx-XIII_, _Omorfia Giappon_, and _GoofyGummy_ for their kind, thoughtful, and thorough reviews. I adore getting feedback as it helps me judge the quality of my own work. ;)

I also enjoy reading it, because everyone has a different perspective on what they're reading. :)

Anyway, with that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy the finale. :)

* * *

There were times during the next couple of years when Akito began to summon the younger members of the zodiac in pairs or individually, to entice them to talk about their lives and then swiftly and efficiently drain whatever confidence they'd gained. In his mind, contentment was only acceptable when it involved their connection to Akito.

Fortunately Kagura and Izuzu were always summoned together. They would talk about Kagura's parents tendency to argue about everyday things and her grandmother's constant disapproval of their martial arts lessons. The speech they would give Akito had been well rehearsed and they purposefully talked about the most girly things they could think of.

As a result Akito thought them fairly empty-headed, aside from one visit where he struck Izuzu for mentioning a boy in her class and pulled out some of Kagura's hair when she mentioned college, Akito considered the two to be of very little interest.

After Akito hit her, Izuzu began to see the truth behind Kagura's concern about the family head discovering the truth behind her and Haru 's relationship. She resolved to keep it a secret, regardless of what the older members of the zodiac had been allowed to do, because she feared Akito's retribution toward Haru, and herself if she were truly honest. Izuzu found she didn't enjoy the feeling of being hit.

"Finishing college means you could support yourself" Izuzu told her afterward. "Akito doesn't want you think you can do that."

"I know" came Kagura's reply. "I used to think there was someone I could stay for, but he...if I ever leave I'll take you with me."

"I couldn't leave Haru" Izuzu admitted. "Even if it might be better for him."

"We'll see maybe...I've been seeing someone" Kagura said barely above a whisper. "Mom and Dad don't know about it. I didn't want to worry them."

"This person wouldn't be able to hold you" Izuzu reminded her.

"He already knows about the curse. He's Kazuma's assistant."

"Tomada Kunimitsu?"

"Yes. Kunimitsu knew about Sensei's grandfather, because his grandmother is a Sohma."

"Does Ritsu know?"

"You're the first person I've told, even-even Sensei doesn't know. I didn't want to burden him, because Kunimitsu works for him." Kagura explained. "He shouldn't have to worry about Akito. And Ritsu...he'd feel the need to apologize for me and that could get him into to trouble with Akito."

"Are you planning to leave?" Izuzu asked, tilting her head down so that her bangs overshadowed her somber expression.

Kagura shook her head.

"No, but it might be nice to get married someday" she admitted wistfully. "Even though...I know Akito's going to call us back eventually, even without the cat being here."

"The cat hasn't been reborn" Izuzu reminded her roughly. "I don't think they're telling the truth."

"I used to hope that he was alive" Kagura admitted. "I wanted to save him from himself."

"He's better off lost. No one wants him back...it would just make things worse."

"You're a kind person, Rin."

"I'm just selfish. I don't want them to have any more excuses to control my life."

* * *

There were two members of the zodiac that Akito couldn't stand to be in the same room with for more than a span of five minutes, Ritsu and Ayame Sohma, the monkey and the snake respectively. He never demanded that the two of them remain within the bounds of the main house nor summoned them back with any amount of frequency. In Akito's mind it was fortunate that the hyperactive and clumsy Ritsu resided with his parents at their onsen, far away from the main house. Ayame's shop in downtown Tokyo and his desire to inhabit an apartment in the area was a similarly convenient arrangement as far as Akito was concerned.

This gave both Ritsu and Ayame a certain amount of protection from the politics at the main house and machinations of the head of the family. As members of the zodiac they were still expected to keep from forming meaningful relationships with those around them, particularly the romantic kind, but if they chose to pursue such relationships these were less likely to be discovered by Akito or any other member of the Sohma.

It was this same protection that allowed Yuki the freedom that he'd had while living in Ayame's apartment, something he slowly became aware of during his first year living with his older brother. That taste of freedom made his first visit back to the main house for New Year's even worse, because he was afraid that at any moment Akito would tell him that it was time to leave Ayame behind and "come home".

Fortunately Yuki had also been able to take a page from Ayame's book and converse with other members of the family, while telling them absolutely nothing of value. Ayame had suggested that he pick the most mundane parts of his studies and discuss them at great length, which Yuki was able to do with some success, even with his own mother, whose presence was now much less daunting as he'd grown within the last few months and was now at least two inches taller than her.

Then...then came his visit with Akito. Yuki was once again forced to sit next to Akito during the zodiac banquet and regale him with "interesting" conversation.

"So my Yuki, you've come back. And how was it at your brother's shop? Was it awful? Did you enjoy spending so much time with the brother you hate?" Akito asked as he watched Kagura perform the traditional dance that marked the beginning of the year representing her zodiac animal. "Stupid people are only good for doing unimportant things. Your parents certainly thought so. Empty-headed fool."

"He seems...suited to what he's doing" Yuki admitted guardedly. He didn't like the implicated that Ayame was an idiot, even if he acted like one at times. His brother was quite intelligent and very talented at making something out of nothing when cloth was involved. Ayame had even managed to give him help with some of his school assignments when needed, although Yuki mostly insisted upon independence when it came to his education. "He's very strange."

Akito favored him with an expectant glare and Yuki realized he wanted more information about his time spent living at Ayame's.

"My brother is...loud, and obnoxious. I don't know what he's saying most of the time. He and...Shigure are very much alike..."

At this Akito grasped Yuki's arm and gripped it so tightly his nails punctured and blood began to seep out of two small cuts left behind. Yuki cringed, but managed to keep himself still.

"You don't know, do you? Maybe I should send you back with him, so you can see how people like that truly are?" Akito mused, a certain bite present in his tone. "Not everyone would as kind and generous as I am to a person as pathetic as you are. They'll ignore you and then you'll see just how useless you truly are. You'll come crying back to me...won't you?"

Akito tightened his grip, drawing more blood, and managed to answer him despite the tremor that ran his spine.

"Yes."

"Good, my Yuki. You can live in the outside and see how they treat someone like you. Then you'll return to me to fulfill your duties. Everyone will come home" Akito's face lit in a smile that was deceivingly sincere to those who didn't know him. "Then you'll see how nice your brother is when he no longer has need of you. How little you matter...we might even visit the cat's room so you can see just how generous I've been up until now."

Then he ordered Rin to get something to clean Yuki's blood off the floor and something to cover the punctures on his arm. Eventually Kagura's dance finished, Yuki could feel his brother's eyes on him the whole time even though he appeared to be laughing at some of the ridiculous things Shigure was saying to him.

When Akito insisted on moving away to converse with Shigure and Hatori for a few moments, Ayame skillfully managed to drag Kagura over and start up a seemingly random conversation about the lovely outfit he would make for Yuki next year for his dance. Kagura's cover allowed Ayame to clean and properly bandage Yuki's cuts all the while pretending to measure him with the sleeves of Kagura's clothing.

Kagura of course understood and kept a cheerful smile plastered on her face, going along with Ayame's ruse, while pulling a roll of bandages given to her by Rin, out of her sleeve.

"I won't be able to stitch it until we leave" Ayame whispered in a deceivingly calm tone. "Hari will be seeing to Akito tonight and I don't want you setting foot anywhere near that part of the house alone."

Yuki nodded mutely. He didn't want to go anywhere near Akito's personal quarters if he could help it. Ayame knew he would have to send Yuki to Hatori alone, so as to keep up the pretense of his detached, supposedly ambition driven relationship with his brother in the eyes of their parents, Akito, and most of the family.

So that night Ayame, with the help of Kagura and Hatsuharu, re-sterilized Yuki's cuts and stitched shut the longer slits that had yet to scab properly after Akito's nails had dug themselves in further when he returned to bid Yuki goodnight.

_We did it,_ Yuki thought to himself as he fell asleep. _We fooled Mother and Akito. I can keep living at the shop._

The next day Ayame covered for him and Yuki was allowed to sneak out and meet up with his friends at the local temple for their first visit of the New Year. They were concerned about him when they saw his injuries.

"It was an accident" Yuki insisted, though he knew Arisa and Kyo didn't believe him.

"Are you sure?" Hanajima asked speculatively as she put a black polished fingernail to her lips. "I could make sure the person who did this to you feels proper remorse for what they did. Yes, I could change things so they will never think to harm you again."

Yuki held up his hands in surrender.

"Really you don't need to do that" he said, entirely worried about the end result of such a confrontation between Hanajima and Akito should they ever meet.

"If he said it was an accident I'm sure it was" Tohru said confidently, trying to draw attention away from Yuki as he already seemed very uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. "I mean these things happen. There was this one time that Kyo, Dad, and Grampa were trying to fix part of the shed and..."

"Look we know your family's not...perfect, alright. You wouldn't be living with your brother instead of your parents if that weren't the case" Kyo said stepping up to stand beside him, while the others listened to Tohru's story. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Just don't ever lie to us, because you don't want to cause trouble for other people. Everyone deserves to be a little selfish sometimes."

"My brother seems to think that as well" Yuki replied in a low voice. "But some things aren't worth talking about when doing so only makes them seem worse."

Kyo self-consciously put a hand to his leather band, gripped it tightly, and didn't say anything more.

* * *

"Mom, I made another friend in school and-"

"I'm glad Kyo. What's her name?" Hisako asked smiling. Her son still hung around with boys from school occasionally and participated in sports activities them, but most of his close friends were girls. This was, in no small part, due to his cousin Tohru's influence as well as Kyo's own initial desire to help Tohru make new friends when they entered middle school.

This would have made Hisako nervous as any accidental contact with these girls could lead to the exposure of Kyo's curse, but neither Arisa Uotani nor Saki Hanajima did more than elbow Kyo once in a while or in Hanajima's case, pat him on the head. The two of them seemed to prefer to shower Tohru with hugs and any overtly friendly physical affection instead.

"Actually, this one's a guy" Kyo replied, feeling more than slightly nervous. "The thing is...the world seems to really like messing with us, Mom."

"What do you mean?" Hisako asked curiously. "Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"I-it took me until New Year's, when we met up, to figure it out" Kyo continued. "He came to the temple with scratches and punctures on his arm like...like someone just grabbed him and held on without caring whether or not. He said it was an accident, but...it sounded like someone in his own family hurt him."

Hisako closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This story sounded all too familiar. After years of talking with Kazuma and hearing the half-hearted whispers that pervaded among his students, she come to find out that those close to the main house were subject to a special treatment that was not altogether kind. Kazuma often colored his stories about the student's he'd taken from among the family, to make them seem a bit more mundane. He'd describe various behavior issues, some of which seemed eerily like the oft animalistic instincts of the zodiac, and the ways in which he'd tried to use martial arts to help temper them. Hisako was quite sure that the girl he'd once introduced as Kagura was possessed of either the monkey or the boar, owing to the sometimes rapid and destructive nature of her reactions.

She'd lost count of the number of time's she'd helped Kazuma patch up part of his house or the dojo, because a sparring match between Kagura and the girl who appeared to be her sister, or one of her younger male cousins got out of hand.

"What's his name?"

"Yuki...Sohma Yuki" Kyo admitted unable to look her in the eye. "Me and Tohru met him at a shop downtown once and we started talking about school. He already knows Hanajima from class and didn't seem to mind her even though everyone else thinks she's strange. So when we started seeing him around school, we invited him to sit with us because...Mom he was all alone except for those crazy girls that like to chase him around. I didn't even think it might be dangerous until he mentioned Kazuma once and after seeing what they did to him..."

Hisako nodded and came to stand beside her son. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder before replying.

"I can imagine having all those girls chase him around would unnerve him a little" she said. "You...wouldn't remember much from when you were little, but there was another child in the zodiac. A boy. I used to think I hated him, because he'd...stolen your place in it."

At this she gripped Kyo's shoulder a bit tighter.

"It was cruel and from what you've said this child hasn't fared much better than the other members of his family. That child was the rat."

"Wait are you saying that Yuki is that rat?!" Kyo answered, his eyes wide with surprise, as they shone with a deeper shade of red.

"Yes and despite being favored by the head of the family, he's apparently suffering the same as the rest" Hisako continued. "As to the danger...I've probably endangered us more by continuing to visit with Kazuma over the years...I just couldn't seem to stop myself either."

"Those students you mentioned. They're all members of the zodiac aren't they?" Kyo asked, though judging by his tone the question was mostly rhetorical.

Hisako nodded an affirmation anyway.

"You like Kazuma, don't you, Mom?"

"Yes" she said laughing, even as she rubbed a tear from her eye. "Very much."

"Can you-will they let you get a divorce once I graduate? I'm sure grandfather would-"

"Even though your father hasn't tried to contact us in any way, I'd rather not risk hurting our family and Kazuma simply because of what I wanted" Hisako explained. "As for Kazuma I'm not sure if he would forgive me for lying to him all this time."

"You know he would" Kyo insisted. "Kazuma forgives everyone. Yuki says he doesn't even care if they destroy the dojo as long as no one gets hurt."

"After hearing some of his stories about his students, I can believe it" Hisako replied with light chuckle, before her face once more donned a somber expression, "but I suspect the main house pays for much of those repairs. If we were discovered, even after you were no longer a minor, people like Kazuma could suffer the consequences of what I've done. If you...if your friend Yuki ever found out about your curse, you would have to be very careful not only for our sakes, but for his."

Now her voice lowered to a whisper as she continued.

"Akito was never a kind person. What do you think he would do if he found out about your friendship? The zodiac god still has a great deal of power over the cursed."

"Yuki isn't even suspicious, but I think Hana knows" Kyo admitted. "She's been being even more careful than usual."

"That girl has her own burden to bear it would seem" Hisako noted. "I didn't truly believe in clairvoyance until a met her. She needs her friends. I would trust her and Arisa at least to keep you safe."

Kyo nodded.

In truth a plan had been forming in his mind since New Year's. He wanted to help Yuki escape someday. The images he'd kept locked in his mind from his few years among the Sohma were dark, shrouded in an acute misery and disdain that was coupled by the head of the family's rejection of him at an early age. Akito hadn't dared to physically act against Kyo any time he was in his true form, but the potential had always been there shadowed in the background. If Yuki had truly felt the brunt of zodiac god's whims throughout the years, then Kyo wanted to help him get away just as he and his mother had done so many years before.

"I'll be careful, Mom" he said.

"Thank you...just do your best to finish school and that will be enough for me" Hisako told him. "No one will care about Kazuma's friendship with me if I don't know who I am. Tanjiro...your _father_", Kyo noticed his mother practically bit out her husband's name, "never liked to work. If he's still with his family then he's living off them in guest cottage set aside on the grounds. He won't think I'm anywhere near the dojo."

"He thinks we're dead." It was a statement, not a question, as if Kyo had known all along.

"The Sohma could never officially declare us as dead without telling the police about your disappearance...but yes, he thinks we're dead. I'm sure they all believe I caused your death somehow." Hisako said, confirming it.

"Good, then we won't ever have to see him again" Kyo said determinedly. "He can't ever hurt us if we're dead."

In their minds Hisako and Kyo Sohma had died the moment they'd met Tokihiko Honda for the first time, joined his family and became two different people. Time would tell, but they hoped to keep it that way for as long as possible.

* * *

Izuzu's third year of middle school had begun normally, though at fourteen she was beginning to feel a shift in her friendship with Hatsuharu. It was also common knowledge that she spent most of her time with a third year friend from the tennis club and first years Kimi Todou and Machi Kuragi. Between them Izuzu and Kimi had managed to convince Machi to stand up for herself once in a while, especially when it came to their peers. Ironically Machi seemed to like Kimi's ability to direct the boy's attention straight toward herself as much as Izuzu. Neither of the two wanted any part in the romantic attentions of the boys in class, though for different reasons.

Then, the day after Valentines, Machi had come to school a few weeks later with bruise on the side of her face that was barely covered by her long hair. Her mother had struck her repeatedly in punishment for allowing Kakeru and his mother into her father's hospital room without her knowledge. Something Machi would never have dared to do before, but Izuzu's story about her parents had proven to Machi just how precious time could be. She saw no point in keeping Kakeru from seeing the father they both shared.

_"He was only coming to see father" Machi had tried to explain to her mother. "I didn't think that...it wasn't wrong, Father wanted to see my brother."_

_"You let that woman in with her son. I knew you were a stupid child, but I didn't think you were this stupid!" was her mother's only answer._

_"Kakeru-he needed to see him because-"_

_"You're supposed to do as you're told" her mother replied harshly. "You may have just ruined everything I've worked for!"_

_"But I worked for it-it was me! All those things...I did for you!" Machi said raising her voice slightly._

_"You don't know what I go through, what I've done to ensure that that woman doesn't ruin everything! She should have left when they wouldn't accept her-she wants to take what's mine and you let her in with that boy!" _

The only thing that had stopped Chiasa Kuragi from punishing her further, had been interference of her husband and Kakeru's mother. The disgust and anger in her ailing father's eyes were too much for Machi and tears had started to spill from her eyes.

Yakamichi Kuragi had banished his wife from the main house that day, after declaring Kakeru his heir, ending the discussion of succession once and for all. Chiasa was told she could only return to the main house to visit Machi occasionally under staff supervision. She had declined and in the coming months only sent notices to her husband asking for more money.

Machi spent even more time in the library with Izuzu, wanting to avoid questions from the teachers and what the other students were probably saying about her.

"They have no right to judge" Izuzu said "when they don't even know you."

"I did it all for her...everything" Machi said. "I was supposed to tell her when Ms. Manabe came, I would have, but I wanted to be more honest like you...and Kimi."

"You didn't know what would happen" Izuzu insisted. "She had no right to do that to you. That's not how a mother should be."

"Father is still very angry. He's-he's moved Ms. Manabe and Kakeru into the house. Ms. Manabe has been very kind."

"Is your brother going to let you stay in the main house?" Izuzu asked tentatively.

Machi nodded.

"We've always liked each other. He says he's going to need help when father is gone. Ms. Manabe is insisting we go to University when we turn eighteen, before we try to take over father's business dealings."

"That's very sound reasoning. Do you know what college you'll try for?" Izuzu asked curiously.

"I don't know. I still have a few years to decide." Machi answered. Then she looked thoughtful. "I might go wherever Kakeru goes."

"As long as we can still go to high school together, you, myself, and Todou" Izuzu told her.

"What about your friend Haru? Isn't he going to be there too?"

"He's still too young and he's...waiting to see where our cousin Yuki goes."

"I thought he was older than we were" Machi commented.

Izuzu shook her head.

"It only looks that way. You're actually the same age as he is."

That night Kakeru Kuragi, now the legitimized son of his father upon being made the heir, sat against the wall listening to his sister tear apart her room for the fifth time that week. Machi just spun herself aimlessly crashing into things to get out her frustrations at both her mother and herself for not being able to see her mother had truly cared about.

Afterwards Kakeru would help Machi clean up her room so that their father wouldn't find out. He didn't want people to start thinking she had gone crazy, that her mother's actions had broken her so irreparably.

This time though, Kakeru believe that even if his father had found out the man wouldn't have said anything. A message had come to the main house that day informing them that Chiasa had suffered a miscarriage early into a previously unknown pregnancy. He knew Machi felt guilty despite having had nothing to do with it. She hadn't even seen her mother in over a month. So he stood vigil like an older brother should and waited until the sounds died down.

* * *

A year later Kakeru's mother brought Kakeru and Machi in to see their father before he was brought into surgery. It was a final effort by the doctors to stem the progression of the disease, but they feared he wouldn't survive the night even with the lifesaving procedure.

Machi was finding it very hard to hold back her tears. Kakeru's expression had returned to the solemn one he'd used to wear at school.

"I don't want either of you making my mistakes." Yakamichi told his children. "You children are the ones who've suffered the most. I loved one woman while I married another because family honor dictated that I do so."

Machi was a bit surprised by the admission, but Kakeru wasn't. His mother had told him this story several times before.

"Unfortunately I don't have much time left" their father acceded. "I have regrets, but not about the two of you. Whatever happens now, I want you both to look after one another."

"We will, Father...Dad" Kakeru replied, while Machi nodded in return.

"You were always good children. Both of you have always done what I asked of you. Do so now for your sakes, but live and grow in a way that best suits your own natures."

* * *

That New Year's as the bells rang in temples all over Japan, Yuki danced at the zodiac banquet in an outfit Ayame had sewn for him especially and while he wanted to strangle his brother repeatedly for adding a few thousand sequins to it, he grew to appreciate the extra showiness when Ayame insisted upon showing him off to everyone, even members of the main house not invited to the banquet. This seemingly shameless advertising of Ayame's talents kept Yuki from being too close to Akito for most of the night.

The next day Yuki feigned feeling the effects of his asthma and had Ayame bring him home. Hatori gave him a shot and drove them back to the apartment himself. They waited several hours before slipping out the back door of the building and walking to Mine's family home for New Year's gathering.

Ayame felt slightly guilty about fooling Hatori, but the more he'd let his brother into his world, the more he had to hide it from the person he admired most. Yuki was destined to return to the main house eventually and Akito would be jealous if he knew the true extent to which the brother's relationship had repaired itself. Hatori would seek to keep Akito happy even if it meant bringing Yuki back within the folds of the main house and Ayame simply couldn't allow that.

_I'm not certain I could let him go back at all_, Ayame mused to himself. _The rat was always supposed to return and stand at god's side, more so than the rest of us even. If he gets stronger I wonder...if I could convince him to leave and run away before it's too late._

* * *

"You must eat something, I insist" Hisako urged the young woman she'd found sitting in the park that morning, staring out at the pond, as she offered her a breakfast roll. She'd seemed so gaunt and the circles under her eyes were so dark and deep that Hisako feared that the woman might collapse right then and there.

"It was my fault" the woman repeated. "You-you don't know what I've done. But I can't-I can't tell anyone the whole truth."

"If you cannot tell me everything in so many words then say what you can" Hisako said calmly, taking off her shawl and wrapping it around the woman. "You're too young to have such troubles already."

The woman looked to be in her twenties and her short haircut resembled the current style worn by the youth of the working world.

"You're being kind to me" the woman replied "but you shouldn't be. I caused my own family to hurt...and someone else to be hurt."

She let out a shaking breath before continuing.

"We were supposed to be married, Hatori and I. I wanted us to be together, but my actions angered the head of the family. He-Hatori's eye was injured because I-I asked for too much...because I was ungrateful!"

The woman began sobbing into Hisako's shawl afterward, leaving the other woman to speculate on what she'd been told. There were many clans in Japan that adhered to strict family practices that were dependent upon long held tradition and at times the whims of the family head. However, such brutality was more uncommon in the modern era as many patriarchs preferred to limit their relative's access to monetary assets as opposed to physically doling out punishment.

_Marriage is a much simpler prospect than it used to be,_ Hisako mused. _Even marriage between close cousins is still thought of as reasonable by the newer generation._

"Akito..." the woman whispered and Hisako felt a shiver of dread crawl up her spine.

The name was too rare for this woman to be speaking of anyone else.

"You shouldn't blame yourself for the actions of others" Hisako said quietly. She'd decided to try and get her point across without giving away how much she truly understood the situation. "I once blamed myself for giving my son a more difficult life. For bringing him into this world only to have him suffer hardships, because of the decisions I had made."

The woman remained silent, but had lifted her head slightly to listen to Hisako's words.

"You made a decision for better or worse, not to hurt anyone, but to be with the person you loved and to make him happy for the rest of your lives together" Hisako continued, turning to look out at the pond. "This person, your head of the family, may have been afraid of losing your Hatori after your marriage. Even though I doubt this would truly happen, marriage can cause a great deal of change in a person's life. Many people fear change and sometimes this can cause people to lash out in ways they shouldn't."

Hisako put a comforting hand on the young woman's head.

"This is not your fault. Your young man obviously wanted the same thing" she said. "Didn't he?"

"Hatori...he asked me but-" the woman cut herself off as a realization seemed to dawn on her. "Hatori wanted it too. He...wanted to be together."

"I'm sure he's been worrying about you too" Hisako murmured. "You-you'll make yourself sick like this. Is it...would you rather be with your Hatori for now and wait until you can convince your family head to let you marry or...is it not enough?"

Even though Hisako knew that Akito Sohma wasn't likely to sanction the marriage after granting an apparently severe ultimatum against it, it wouldn't do to crush the last of this woman's hope.

"I want to be with him" the woman said. "Any way I can. I-I need to go home and make things up with Hatori. We'll be together even if it's just what they'll allow. He'll-will he forgive me for worrying him?"

"I'm sure he already has" Hisako said encouragingly. "That's what we do for those we love."

"Your son. Is he...was he okay?" the woman asked.

Hisako nodded and gave her a small smile.

"There is nothing I can do to make up for the hardships I caused him" she said, "but I was able to give him a better life in the end. He...has a place where he can learn and grow as he should."

"Then I should do that for Hatori" the woman said. "I should be there for him. I'm just afraid of the hurt I've already caused him. His eye..."

"Was not your fault young Miss."

"Kana" the woman replied. "My name is Sohma Kana."

"And I am Honda Hisano" Hisako offered, managing to mask a slight nervousness at meeting yet another member of the family she'd worked so hard to escape. She felt for Kana and understood that even the other members of the zodiac who had looked down on Kyo's existence, still suffered at the hands of their head of house and his whims.

_The man she's talking about must be Sohma Hatori then. The dragon of the zodiac,_ Hisako's mind supplied_._ _ The one who can erase people's memories of what the family doesn't want them to see._

"I just don't want to cause any more trouble with the head of the family" Kana continued. "Akito doesn't like that I found out a secret about our family, a secret that he and others have to live with. I-I wasn't supposed to find out. What if he doesn't think its safe with me?"

"Then you continue to keep it safe" Hisako told her. "If you haven't given anything away, even after something happened that you didn't like, then they have no reason to think you will."

"Probably not" Kana admitted. "They know I would never betray Hatori or my family. I-Thank you Ms. Honda, you've helped me. Mayu tried and Hatori tried, but I...I've been driving them away, because I could only think about what happened. It-helps that you-you understand somehow."

"I've made my own mistakes" Hisako explained. "Your view on life changes when you have a child, you can no longer turn away from your mistakes when you don't want to deal with them, because it will affect that child if you do. I changed my life and did what was best for my son, and in doing that I've helped myself to become better as well."

* * *

That night Hatori Sohma returned home to find his fiancé's demeanor had changed. Kana was no longer the quivering bundle of fear she'd become during the last few weeks since their failed marriage meeting with Akito. She'd even brewed a special kind of tea and insisted that the two of them talk through what they wanted to do to keep their relationship in tact within the bounds of Akito's demands.

"I want to try to do what is best for everyone" Kana told him after they'd reconciled. "We are all family and we should be able to work through these things. I'm sorry I didn't see it before and for the worry that I caused you."

"Akito...he said I shouldn't burden you any further" Hatori answered quietly. "I've been waiting to see if things would change. I didn't...want to let you go."

"I don't want that either" Kana replied placing her hand over his, startling her fiancé slightly. "I only wanted to protect you from your curse, from everything, but I know now that I can't. I can only support you and try to help in any way that I can."

"I just want you here with me. Does it bother you that we may not be able to get married?" Hatori asked tentatively.

Kana shook her head.

"I realized that it would be very difficult for you to have children with someone who wasn't cursed. We-the main house has so many children in it, we could look after some of them instead sometimes" Kana suggested. "I only want to keep you in my life. So if we can't get married, I'll stay by your side in any way that I can."

Hatori smiled the first real smile he'd had in weeks, the bandage still hiding part of his face from view.

"I realize we'll have to be careful with how we go about things" she finished.

"It would be for the best if we were quieter about us" he said, sighing deeply. "That might calm Akito down and keep him from raising more concerns."

"You can't say no to him, can you?" Kana said thoughtfully. "It always seemed like there was something more behind it. Is that why you didn't-when he-"

Hatori nodded.

"We can physically restrain Akito from hurting others, but we have great difficulty acting in our own defense" he admitted. "It's part of our curse."

"I know you still see Akito as a child in some ways" Kana mused. "That's part of why I was so afraid that I couldn't protect you. I wanted to do what Shigure did, but I couldn't seem to make myself move."

"You were in shock. That's a perfectly natural thing." Hatori informed her. "I may have also been unable to move away. I misjudged what Akito's reaction might be. It was actually kind of Shigure to step in when he did."

"I wasn't used to seeing him so serious" Kana admitted.

"He can be when it suits him. Shigure does a good job of showing others what they want to see most of the time. He and Ayame are very much alike in that way."

* * *

Tokihiko was grateful that despite his age, he'd been able to attend Tohru and Kyo's middle school graduation ceremony, as well as that of his other granddaughter the previous year. He'd been afraid that his health might not hold out long enough to see them reach their teen years, but so far his good fortune had held.

He also wanted to stay live long enough for Kyo to graduate high school and ensure that the boy was able to independently support himself should his father or the Sohma ever discover his whereabouts. There was little doubt in Tokihiko's mind that the money he'd set aside for Hisako and her son would more than cover Kyo's tuition payments and that Katsuya would take the two of them into his own household if needed. However, Tokihiko wanted to be able to support the two and give Kyo the opportunity to find his own way in life without fear or worry of discovery without his adoptive grandfather's protection.

"I worry about Kyo sometimes, Grampa" Tohru said later that afternoon when it was just the two of them. "I'm worried he won't find anyone, because of his curse. He's too afraid of showing himself to other people."

"He seems to be getting along well with your friends" Tokihiko reminded her. "He and Ms. Uotani seem to like each other very much."

"Maybe it's just silly but I...worry that he won't find someone special someday" Tohru clarified.

Tokihiko nodded. Now he understood.

"I've often thought about what my grandson's future might be and I always worried that I might not be able to do right by him, because of the mistakes I made with my own children" he replied with a sad smile. "Your father may forgive me now, but I was once very hard on him, my dear."

"Oh, but you always seemed so...Dad never said anything and I'm sure he doesn't think that way, Grampa" Tohru said, surprised by the revelation.

"No, I'm sure he doesn't after meeting Kyoko's parents, but Kyo has proved to be a very different young man. He's more determined than your father or I ever were to prove himself. I have no doubt that he'll succeed and I hope that fate will be kind to him and help him find the person who will see him as he is in spite of his curse."

Tokihiko put a hand on her shoulder.

"I wish the same for you too, darlin'."

* * *

Yuki was surprised to find that Rin was already in attendance at the high school he and his friends would be entering the very next year. He hadn't realized the fact until Hatsuharu approached him after the graduation ceremony.

"You'll look after Rin, right?" he asked. "I know she has her own friends and the two of you probably won't be in hallway very often, but...please warn her if Akito shows up."

"You mean in case he finds out about the two of you?" Yuki answered quietly.

Haru sighed and favored his cousin with a questioning look.

"I will" Yuki agreed. "Though I doubt she'll want to see me if she can help it."

"The two of you, never quite got along, did you?" Haru murmured.

"It was more a difference of opinion. I was a threat to your safety while you continued to visit me at the main house" Yuki replied as he turned his gaze to where Hatori and Shigure stood having one of their usual sardonic discussions a few feet away. "After all, I'm the rat. Some of them will always see what's happened to us as my fault."

"I wonder if that's actually the case or if they just believe too much in some stupid fairytale" Haru observed. "Either way, we can't be expected to conform every time some elder changes his mind about how the story went."

"I think it's a little more complicated than that, Haru."

"Not when it only affects us. Even...even Akito knows that."

Yuki just shook his head. He wasn't in the least bit inclined to think about the politics of the main house right now. In fact he was attempting to avoid the place for as long as possible until he was forced to go back for the New Year's banquet in a few months.

This was also one of the first time's he'd seen Haru within the last year. Yuki remembered trying to restrain him after he'd gone black and challenged some idiot who'd made a comment about him "dyeing" his hair. There were also a surprising amount of teachers who assumed Haru would put in that kind of effort on something so foolish at a very young age. Although, he had to admit, the nature of Haru's differing, sometimes nonsymmetrical shades of black and white did tend to make his sharply trimmed tresses look like a gothic hairstyle on wrong.

"Akito's been suspicious of us for years" Haru continued, startling Yuki out of his thoughts. "I don't want Rin getting into any trouble over this when I'm the one that insisted on us being together."

"I'm sure she had a choice in the matter" Yuki murmured, "but it doesn't matter. I'd do it regardless, because it was the right thing to do."

"It would be my fault...if she got hurt."

"You worry too much about other people, Haru. Worry about yourself once in a while."

"My mother, she just laughs when I get angry and tear things apart" he said. "She thinks that as long as I'm safe it doesn't matter what I do. I don't think that way...I think I'm too aware of the consequences, because her attitude is kind of my fault to begin with. Rin's just...another person I forced into one of those situations for the fulfillment of my own happiness."

"I doubt she sees it that way" Yuki responded, "and at least your mother cares what they do to you. Mine says I'm a tool and I used to think she was right before...before my brother changed his mind and decided she wrong."

"Good for him, at least he's got a brain in his head unlike the rest of them. Everyone else is too busy worrying about themselves now that the cat isn't here for them to look down on anymore."

"I don't see how that would've helped anything."

"That makes two of us then" Haru replied patting Yuki's shoulder and before turning to follow Hatori as he walked away in an attempt to leave Shigure behind.

Yuki shook his head at the sight, before walking back to where his friends were all gathered. Ayame, who'd already had the chance to pester Hatori earlier during the graduation ceremony, was now chatting animatedly with Kyoko Honda and Saki's grandmother, Kaoru Hanajima about something.

* * *

At the very beginning of the next year when Kyo, Tohru, and their friends started high school, Momiji Sohma's mother Marliese and little sister, Momo were hit by a car while crossing the road at an intersection. His mother was grievous injured and the prognosis wasn't good, whereas Momo had only received minor injuries having been shielded by her mother's body.

Arisa was unfortunate enough to have witnessed the accident on her way to school, though she'd been too far away to done anything to prevent it, she still felt guilty when she found out that Momiji's mother and sister had been involved. The newspapers tended to report accidents involving young children with a front page posting and the mention of Momiji's father's name had been pretty hard for her to miss. She didn't know if and when she was likely to see him again, because he would be distraught as anyone would be in that type of situation. So she picked a flower sprout from the hydrangea in the park, tucked it into a small pot borrowed from Kyoko, and left it at the spot near the Sohma house where they usually met on their off days.

Momiji loved flowers and it was the only form of comfort Arisa could offer without seeing him in person.

Two days later Marliese died of her injuries and Momiji's father Sojiro brought his son in to see his mother 's body before it was taken away to be prepared for the funeral. Momiji was at last, formally but tearfully, introduced to his little sister, who cried on his shoulder all night. She didn't seem the least bit disturbed by his rabbit form, being young enough to think it was some type of magic her brother was capable of. Sojiro explained Momiji's existence to his sister and any other non-Sohma contacts as the son of his former college girlfriend, who had died of an illness.

The next time Arisa saw Momiji was exactly one month later outside her high school. He quietly insisted they walk home together and instead of heading toward either of their apartments, he lead her an isolated spot in one of the local parks, looked around and then promptly jumped into her arms.

"Ha-wha? You-you're a rabbit?! What the hell how did that happen?"

"I wanted to show you" Momiji snuffled as tears fell from his small rabbit eyes. "Momo knows now, so I wanted to tell you, because you're my sister too."

"You're...is this magic? Are you cursed or something?" Arisa asked, still slightly panicked at the idea that Momiji could turn into a rabbit at will.

"A curse" he answered. "It's the reason my mother rejected me, she couldn't accept that I become this. You-you can't tell anyone...my family, if they find out that you know, they'll take away your memories of me."

"People can't really do that and...how could your father suddenly bring you home now after everything? Doesn't he-"

Momiji told her the true story of what had happened with his mother when he was a child.

"That's messed up" Arisa growled, half to herself. "All of it. You shouldn't have to put up with crap like that just because it made other people feel better."

"I was afraid you'd reject me too because of this...and Momo" Momiji said, his rabbit ears hanging down by his sides.

"How could you think-wait, what am I saying. Your own mother couldn't handle something like this, so of course you'd think that other people you care about might not" Arisa said bringing a hand to her head. "I know I didn't think I had the right to have anyone care about me after I joined a gang. My own parents didn't give a damn about what happened to me so neither did I. Not until Tohru and Kyo, and Hana. They showed me what it was really like to be accepted by people who didn't expect anything from me. Tohru's parents and Kyo's old lady were the first adults I've trusted in my life."

"It's just that I did everything for Mama and now that she's dead it all seems pretty pointless, doesn't it?" Momiji answered. "You're right, I did have a hard time trusting people even among the Sohma and that for a while, I didn't think anyone cared about me. Having my cousins Hatori and Haru look out for me and meeting you changed that. I think of you all as family more than I do for Papa even. You mean very much to me even though...it's been hard keeping everyone a secret from one another."

Arisa nodded.

"But you can't tell them about me."

"They'd have Hatori erase your memories of the curse and me, like he did for Mama, only you wouldn't have a choice, because Akito would order him to do it" Momiji explained. "It's better if they never know. I just needed you to accept me and after Momo found out, it gave me enough courage to tell you the truth."

"You know I do, kid" Arisa said with an almost smile as she set the rabbit down on the ground. A puff of smoke appeared and Momiji transformed back into his human form. "One thing though...why do you have to be naked afterwards?"

"That's just the nature of the curse" Momiji told her cheerfully. "We get to be so small that our clothes just kind of fall off."

"That's...weird" she said finally, shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe _that's_ the result of real magic instead of something a bit more...sparkly."

"We don't even know where it comes from" Momiji said truthfully.

"Someone with a twisted sense of humor" Arisa said with no small amount of irony in her voice. "Are there girls with this curse? I bet they have it worse."

"You have no idea."

* * *

"Hide me" Yuki said hurriedly as he dove past Kyo and into the classroom door adjacent.

"What's in it for me?" Kyo said jokingly as a teasing smile formed on his face.

"If you help me I won't tell the rest of the girls about that cute expression you wear when your aunt ruffles your hair" Yuki countered with an equally playful expression.

A light blush tinted Kyo's cheeks as he turned away.

"That's playing dirty, Yuki" he said. "What if I tell Minegawa what kind of toothpaste you use instead. She'll probably leave you boxes of it for Christmas, just so she can see that 'adorable' smile."

"Had experience with that have you?"

"She kept giving me bright orange sox for months back middle school. Said it was my color" Kyo muttered. "Mom was amused and Aunt Kyoko went out and bought me shoes to match. Damn them."

"That-that's pretty funny actually" Yuki replied. "I'll have to remember that for Valentine's, so I can make her jealous."

"Not unless you want everything you get decked out in purple" Kyo shot back. "Don't think I've forgotten that shirt your brother made you wear."

"Stupid brother" Yuki murmured. "I'd have burned that thing, but I didn't want to hurt Mine's feelings."

"Tough break, huh? I'll have to stop by the shop again and see what other things your brother and Ms. Kuramae make for you" Kyo said teasingly. "I bet you even have one of those formal New Year's kimono's all set out in the back of your closet."

"I have three" Yuki said with a sigh. "Ayame insisted on it after I moved in. He keeps making more every time I grow out of one."

"Did you...keep them all?"

Yuki nodded.

"It's one of the first things my brother ever did for me outside of askingif I could live with him" he said in a wistful tone that had an edge sadness. "My brother has done quite a few things that were just for me without...thinking of himself."

"Tohru can be like that sometimes" Kyo said. "I used to worry that it might get her into trouble. Kids...used to pick on her in elementary school, because she was too nice to fight back. But, your brother seems like he's doing it because maybe he wants you to like him and...have you know that someone cares about you."

"That's...someone else said something similar" Yuki admitted, thinking of Hatori. "I don't really see my parents very much and before my brother let me live with him, I didn't really have anyone outside of...the servants in the main house. Well and my cousins Haru and Rin."

"That's-" Kyo started to reply before they heard the clamoring of footsteps down the hall.

_"I think he's in here Number 2!"_

_"We've got to be careful about this, no one ask him until we've had a chance to check out the situation. That psychic girl could still be around."_

"Damn girls" Kyo said with a snort. "You've made it clear you don't want anything to do with 'em. So why don't they just leave you alone and go bug someone else."

"They think he's being mysterious and playing hard to get" Hanajima answered as she approached them from the other side of the hall.

Both boys jumped slightly in surprise.

"Dammit Hana, don't do that!"

Hanajima just gave him an amused, and slightly devious smile.

"I've been here the whole time" she said, keeping her voice to a sly monotone. "If you'd used your ears you would have heard me."

"Not when you just come out of nowhere like that" Kyo retorted. "Don't think you fooled me for second, you just got here."

"Hi Hanajima" Yuki greeted her. It'd taken him most of middle school to stop adding" Ms." before Tohru, Arisa, and Saki's last names. "How are you?"

"I am fine, your highness" she told him with a sardonically straight face, that got a snicker out of Kyo. "As your electric signals seem normal, I can only assume that you are as well."

"Well yes, except for-"

_"There he is, President!"_

_"It's the Prince."_

_"Great work Minami, now we just-"_

"-the usual."

Hanajima turned to give them her best glare, while Kyo and Yuki felt the air around them start to buzz with unnaturally static heat. The fan club girls fled in horror and the air cleared once again.

"What strange girls" Hanajima commented. "So what are the two of you doing this weekend? Megumi has expressed an interest in visiting the shop Yuki's brother owns to get something for our mother."

"He just wants to see Mine in her maid outfit again" Yuki said putting a hand to his head.

"That too" she acknowledged. "So will you be free to come with us?"

"Sure why not" Kyo said with a sigh. "Aunt Raiko's coming to visit then anyway and I'd rather not get another lecture about why I'm not as good as her son."

"Won't your mother mind?" Yuki inquired.

Kyo shook his head.

"Nah, it'll give Mom an excuse to go do the shopping while my aunt talks with grandfather" he explained. "He just ignores it when she tries to argue with him anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Yuki shrugged.

"I don't have any plans either."

"Thank you for your company" Hanajima said quietly. "I look forward to seeing it again...in hopes that I might finally see you in that kimono."

"Why would you-" Yuki started to reply before it donned on him that it meant Kyo possibly seeing him in a formal kimono and quickly turned away to keep the blush spreading across his face from showing.

"That was mean Hana" Kyo whispered raising an eyebrow as he watched Yuki try to cover his reaction.

"But necessary...you know you'd like it" she whispered back conspiratorially.

"That-dammit-like I would" Kyo replied, unable to keep from blushing himself at the statement.

* * *

Ritsu had started visiting Shigure's house more frequently during the last year. At first he'd simply wanted to get some advice to better himself and to be more confident like his cousin Ayame. Then he'd seen her, Shigure's editor, and it'd struck him that he'd never seen anyone more lovely in his life.

Even when she was crying outside of Shigure's front yard. Like today for instance.

"Why, why why did they put me with him...I swear this job is going to be the death of me" she said holding her head as she further bemoaned her job. "Twenty-seven pages...he said he'd have them finished and now..."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I've probably been distracting him with my presence! I never should have-" Ritsu started to reply, albeit a bit manically, after he'd heard enough to understand what she meant.

"Wha-?" the woman said in confusion. "He's-he's always like this, doing this to me, I doubt you could have-"

"But I whenever I come to visit he says that-"

"-that's just Shigure. That-he-" then she stopped and took a breath. "It's not your fault he's such a bastard sometimes. Oh but I shouldn't say that because you're probably...are you related to him? Now I'm going to get fired! Damn, why did I take this job?!"

"I wouldn't tell anyone" Ritsu said, not sure how to reply to that one. "It's-I would never try to get you fired or anything. Not when I've probably been distracting him by coming over unexpectedly...like today."

"I...oh...well it's obvious that he's not home right now" the woman murmured with some bile. Then her expression changed to one a bit kinder. "Would you like to get some tea with me? You shouldn't have to just wait at Shigure's front door until he gets home."

"I...you'd invite me to tea? Really? Me?" Ritsu asked, completely stunned.

"Yes, that is, if you wouldn't mind. I'm Higurashi Mitsuru by the way" the woman said.

"I'm S-Sohma Ritsu" he replied blushing slightly. "I'd like to go with you and have some tea."

"Oh good then. There's this place downtown that's very nice" Mitsuru said shyly. "We could go there."

"O-okay."

* * *

Two weeks later Kagura's curse broke when she was out on a date with Kunimitsu...right after she'd finally told him about the curse.

Tears flowed down her face as she tried to explain her reaction to him.

"I-it-the curse...it just broke" Kagura explained. "Even after I told you-"

"Well that and Kazuma kept hinting about it when he found out about us. Does...will Akito be able to tell that it broke, because Sensei seemed to think-" Kunimitsu started to reply.

"He...he might" Kagura said as her head cleared once again. "I don't know for sure, but he won't be...happy. I'll have to warn Rin."

"I- my family has a dojo in Osaka if you need to go somewhere for a few days and think things over" Kunimitsu offered.

"I would like that, yes" Kagura replied. "I'm not sure I want to be there when Akito asks for me. My parents have mostly tried to keep us away from the main house and with good reason..."

"But you're not part of the zodiac anymore" he said in confusion. "So wouldn't he want to see you less?"

His girlfriend shook her head.

"I don't think the curse has ever broken before" she said. "Akito doesn't like change... at all. I don't know if he'd let me leave the main house if I went there right now after-I don't think I could stop myself from defending myself either and that...usually doesn't end well for other people."

"That's a bit of understatement..." Kunimitsu commented under his breath. Then he turned to saw her straining to hear him and quickly changed his demeanor.

"Anyway, to Osaka it is, we'll just go to Sensei's and...I'll give my family a call right now" Kunimitsu suggested, having now understand Kagura's sudden urgency to leave.

Kagura's parents were very surprised when she called and explained the situation to them. They wholeheartedly agreed with her plan to leave for a couple of weeks and sort things out, outside of Akito's reach.

They also put Izuzu on the line, who, after dropping the phone in shock, suddenly decided to ask a friend if she could stay over for a couple of days, just in case. A request that later surprised Machi, who was happy to have one of her friends stay over, as it was something that would bring some much needed normalcy back to her life.

In the end the only person left for Akito to summon was Yuki. Ayame was confused at the head of the family's sudden request to see his brother, but both he and Yuki knew better than refuse Akito. In truth they only thought it would be a ceremonial visit that included more snide remarks on Akito's part.

"Yuki" Akito said after the former stood kneeling in front of him. "You know better don't you?"

Yuki's countenance took on a confused expression and rather than replying he waited, knowing the head of the family had more to say.

"You wouldn't..._leave_ me...would you" Akito continued. "You can't though. We have an unbreakable bond...yes unbreakable...You won't-_can't_ leave me!"

"Akito what-"

"Did she tell you? Does she want to take you away from me too? That spineless bitch saw fit to leave me...but you won't be tempted...tell me, my Yuki..."

Then instead of waiting for an answer Akito decided to take his growing anger out on the only available target and managed to claw at part of Yuki's chest in an effort to quell his smoldering rage at Kagura's seeming abandonment. Then he came in for another strike, slightly bruising Yuki's ribs in the aftermath, and causing him extreme pain.

Akito backed off slightly and surveyed what he'd done. In one swift motion he closed the gap between him and Yuki once more, only this time he didn't lash out in the same way. He pushed Yuki against the wall and pressed his lips to Yuki's taught ones in a way that was far from chaste.

The action caused bile to well up in Yuki's stomach as his body reacted with revulsion, and threatened to make him empty the contents of his last meal onto the polished wooden floor.

As frightened as he was, shivers were already pouring out to every part of his body, Yuki found the strength to push away from Akito and, in a mental panic, make his way toward the door and kick it open. Then he ran as fast and as far as his legs could carry him.

After Yuki had made his escape Akito screamed for the maids to bring him back and Kureno appeared once more, completely horrified once he noticed the drops of blood on the floor.

"Akito what-" Kureno started to ask, but was cut off when Akito grabbed a sheathed knife that was kept with things, as it had been Akira's, and started off toward Ren's room on the other side of the house.

In the end Akito was stopped from killing Ren and instead was forced to give up a truth far more precious. He once again was forced to acknowledge that he was actually a woman...Akito was a woman intent on destroying the mother who'd rejected her very existence. Her inability to seduce Yuki as part of their zodiac bond once again sent Akito over the edge when Kureno tried to comfort her and reminded her of how young the teen truly was.

"I...he needs to understand that no one is allowed to leave me" Akito murmured into Kureno's chest. "Not for that woman, not for that bitch who dared to break our bond! I can't let that woman win...you understand don't you, Kureno?"

"Yuki is young, you can't just do that something like that to a younger person...I'm sure he didn't understand what you're feeling...there's-" Kureno tried to form a reply that would both calm Akito and make her realize the wrongness of what she'd done, when he felt the knife penetrate his abdomen from the back.

Then everything went dark as he heard Akito shout for help.

* * *

Yuki ran through the grounds of the main house, sweeping past several of the maids, and finding no members of the zodiac present in his path, not that he would have stopped for them at the moment, kept going. His feet seemed to have taken on a life of their own and despite his slowly feeling more and more out of breath, Yuki didn't stop running until he'd reached the block where Kyo lived.

The sky had clouded over since he'd last stepped outside and his mind barely registered the probability of getting rained on within the next ten to fifteen minutes. Later, upon reflection, he was sure he hadn't transformed out of stress _only_ because of the tremendous amount of adrenaline that'd been surging through him at the time.

When Yuki's feet finally came to a rest he'd arrived at Kyo's door and rang the bell, hoping that his friend would be there to greet him. After what had happened at the main house, he'd felt an unexplainable desire for his friends company well up within him.

As it turned out Kyo was the only one home that day, as his mother had gone on another visit to Kazuma's dojo and his grandfather was off visiting his daughter Raiko at her residence.

Kyo blinked rapidly as he registered the appearance of an exhausted, shivering, Yuki at his door.

"Yuki? What-?" he started to ask, but paused midsentence when the other boy practically collapsed at kneeling at his feet.

"Please hide me" Yuki asked in a desperate tone. "I didn't know where else to-I had to come here. I couldn't make it to Aya's shop...too...many...people."

"You should come in and...I'll make some tea" Kyo said holding out a hand to help him up. "Then you can tell me what happened. I'll get a blanket too."

Kyo returned after a few minutes with a blanket and drew Yuki into the kitchen, urging him to sit down at the table, while he put the tea on. Then Kyo noticed the drops of blood that trailed across the floor to wear his friend was sitting and scrambled to the bathroom to fetch what he needed to stop it.

"Why didn't you tell me you were bleeding?" he said, trying very hard to hide his fury both at the person who'd harmed Yuki and at Yuki himself for not immediately bringing it to his attention. Kyo knew, rationally, that Yuki probably wasn't even aware that the scratches on his chest were still dripping, but that didn't mean it wasn't an immediate area of concern.

"I didn't realize it was that bad" Yuki said in barely a whisper. "I could barely even feel it after it happened."

Kyo shook his head and went to work cleaning up the blood and attempting to bandage up the cuts as best he could. It was clear that Yuki wouldn't be very receptive to the idea of visiting hospital right now, and fortunately the nature of his injuries seemed limited to those small scratches and some minor facial bruising.

"I could get Tohru to buy you something to cover that up later" Kyo said quietly, referring to the bruises around Yuki's mouth and chin.

Yuki nodded in understanding and waited for Kyo to be finished with the first aid kit. Then he sat as his friend insisted on serving him tea and making sure he drank a good amount of it, before once again asking what had happened to him.

"Akito he-the head of the family...I'm not supposed to...tell" Yuki said feeling the shudders continued crawl down his back despite the blanket's warmth. "He tried to..."

Kyo's eyes narrowed as his mind attempted to piece together everything his friend wasn't saying. None of the different conclusions he came up with were good ones. There was no viable explanation as to why Yuki had those strange bruises on his face or the barely concealed marks across his chest.

"You can't tell anyone" Yuki said. "I-"

"I should" Kyo said, a grim expression forming itself on his face, "but I know that with your family things are different. I don't want anything to happen to you or your brother, because I said or did something stupid."

"Th-thank you" he replied as his shivers finally quelled themselves and took comfort in the soothing sound of Kyo's voice when it hit such a low octave. "The head of the family...something set him on edge and he...lost it while I was there. He sent a message asking me to talk with him and I went. I didn't realize there was something wrong until he backed me into a corner and tried to...make some unexpected advances..."

Kyo's eyes widened in horror as he realized the depth of what Yuki was trying to tell him.

"You're a minor that's..."he started to reply. "Will he try to-"

"I don't know" Yuki said, cutting off any further speculation. "I just know that I need to talk to Ayame alone. I need to find out what happened to make Akito act this way...it's just too...sudden."

"Has anything like this ever happened before? Well, not like this, but he hurt you during New Year's."

"Akito has been known to take his displeasure out on whoever happens to be there when he decides to make it known" Yuki admitted. "I lived in the main house for a long time before being allowed to leave, so I know what he's like."

"You can't win this, can you? I want to help you, I just don't know how I can" Kyo said, trying to find the right thing to say in reaction to such a bewildering development.

"You...already have" Yuki assured him. "I didn't know where else to run and I knew Ayame's shop would have customers in it this time of the day. He'll...I know my brother will try to protect me in any way that he can. Akito..."

Then he broke off and to Kyo's surprise started chuckling lightly.

"Akito can't stand my brother. So it may very well work in my favor as long as our cousin Hatori doesn't get too deeply involved."

"You really admire your brother, don't you" Kyo responded. "It seemed like the two of you were close."

"He and my cousin Haru helped me to leave the main house and made it so that I could go to school where I wanted instead of having it decided for me" Yuki confessed. "Without them I'd still be kept away from the outside world, because of Akito's fear. The main house is very closed off on purpose, especially if..."

_...you're cursed,_ Kyo mentally finished for him. The he looked back to see his friend eyeing him tentatively.

"...never mind."

The other teen shook his head as if to clear it.

"How is it that you can understand this so well? Any normal person would have been calling the police right now or at least insisting that I see a doctor immediately" Yuki inquired curiously. "I wouldn't even have a choice in the matter if it had been anyone else's door I knocked on."

Kyo closed his eyes and took a deep breath before replying.

"My father's family hated me and my mother, we were never...what they wanted" he said, gritting his teeth as he continued. "They let my father treat us like dirt and didn't care when he abandoned us. Even as a kid I knew they had a lot of power and that if I didn't something they didn't like, it would only come back and hurt my mother. I don't like what's being done to you, but I know better than to just blindly interfere in a way that could end with you and your brother even worse off or...I don't even know what."

"There are enough people who care about Aya and want to keep him safe" Yuki told him, "and those same people will do the same for me if it's what he wants. Akito...still won't set foot in my brother's shop. So I should be able to hide there for now."

"I don't-I don't like this" Kyo said, with a sharp snort of discontent "but it's not my decision. My mother would tell me to do what I thought was right to keep you safe and right now that's getting you back to your brother without anyone else 'finding' you along the way."

Yuki gulped, feeling his throat tighten slightly as he nodded. There was always the possibility that someone from the main house would be sent to fetch him and attempt to intercept him before he could enter Ayame's shop.

"We need to enter the shop through the back" Yuki informed him. "I don't want anyone else to see me, just in case..."

Kyo let Yuki borrow some of his clothing in order to make him more unrecognizable, including an old baseball cap so he could tuck in his silver-gray hair and keep it out of sight. The two of them managed to get to Ayame's shop and set foot inside the back entrance without any perceived mishaps. At Yuki's request, Kyo left shortly after entrusting him to Mine's care, despite his steadfast concern and was not present when Ayame arrived.

Ayame was the anxious older brother as usual, but this time his worry changed to a manic need to call Hatori and re-bandage Yuki's mistreated chest and neck. When he finally managed to wheedle the story of what truly happened out of Yuki, once they were safely inside of the apartment they shared, Ayame's expression turned grim and for the first time Yuki witnessed his brother in a state of near frigid anger. An emotion Ayame had only just managed to hold off as he explained the rumor about Kagura's curse being broken and her subsequent departure from her parent's house.

"It broke, but doesn't that mean-?"

Ayame waved a hand to acknowledge his brother's conclusion and confirm his own similar thoughts on the matter.

"'Gure swore there was still some hope for us, even after all these years and I refused to have my own expectations shattered while waiting for such a thing" he said. "I used to think it was so inconsequential...but now...I'll have to concede my doubts once more and see if there isn't a way to free us as well, my dear Yuki."

Then he turned and promptly called Ritsu Sohma's mother and insisted upon paying them a visit with Yuki in toe the very next day. Ritsu's mother was slightly bewildered at this, but since she and her husband had rooms to spare and Ayame was willing to pay their fees out of his own pocket, she saw no reason to refuse him.

"We're leaving?" Yuki asked in surprise after Ayame hung up the phone.

"I think it might be wise if the two of us sought out time away from the worries of the world. Why not seek out the company of our dear cousin Ritsu? I've always found our cousin Ritsu's presence to be particularly worthwhile. What do think Yuki?"

"What do you-" Yuki started to say, but stopped midsentence when it dawned on him that Ayame and Ritsu's combined company was the one thing that Akito detested more than the two of them singularly, which sometimes included the added _pleasure_ of Shigure's presence where Ayame was concerned.

"I couldn't agree more, brother."

"Mm...indeed" Ayame replied, laying his head down on his folded hands. "I'll have to sort things out with Hari from afar, I'm afraid. There's simply no way I can let you be called back to the main house...what with Akito feeling ill. A trip to the hot springs should do wonders for that _asthma attack_ you suffered this afternoon. I'll leave Mine in charge of the shop for a few days with instructions to call with any pertinent messages. I'm sure Hatori will understand..."

_No, I'm quite sure he wouldn't_, Yuki thought to himself, but he knew Ayame had a way of getting Shigure and Hatori to listen that no one else seemed to be capable of.

"Ayame...I...need to ask you something" Yuki said, suddenly recalling a disturbing observation he'd made earlier that day when Akito had been pressed up against him. "Akito...is a woman, isn't he?"

Ayame snapped out of his reverie and stared at Yuki with an honest look of surprise on his face.

"Yes, but...you _mustn't_ tell anyone what you know" he said moving forward to put a hand on Yuki's shoulder. "We, Hatori, Shigure, Kureno, and I weren't allowed to tell anyone without facing shall we say unpleasant consequences. I'm sorry I haven't been more of the comforting older brother...I'm afraid that sort of thing doesn't come naturally to me and-"

"That doesn't...matter to me" Yuki said, interrupting him. "I feel safe here with you and Mine and that's all I need. You care about me more than our parents ever did, so don't...put yourself down because we aren't like other people. We...were never going to be normal anyway."

Ayame didn't answer him verbally, opting to give his brother a slight hug instead, in a rare show of physical contact between them. Yuki didn't say anything, but found he appreciated the gesture in light of his brother's unusually affectionate nature and his own need for comfort after the disturbing turn of events at the main house.

* * *

"Hatori says not to go by the main house for a while" Momiji told Arisa attempting to keep up his usual smile. "We're going to need a new meeting place."

"We can use my apartment building" she answered. "My father...we talk more now, but it's not like my father cares who I hang out with. Kyoko did gave him one of her speeches a few months ago, so that helped."

"If that's true then I'm glad" he said. "Is Kyoko someone important to you?"

"Oh yeah, I've always referred to her as Tohru's mother, haven't I? She and her husband Katsuya helped me get out alive when I quit that gang back in middle school."

"I remember you talking about it. It always seemed like you truly her, like I do my Hatori" Momiji responded. "Anyway I had something important to tell you, it's the reason we can't meet at the main house. My cousin Kagura's curse broke the other day and everyone's in a tizzy over it."

"Wait you can br-it can be broken?" Arisa said in amazement.

"Mhm, apparently she decided to leave and go away with her boyfriend for awhile. So now...the head of the family doesn't know what to do, because he...tried to keep other people from knowing about it" Momiji explained. "Haru got it from one of the maids in the main house that Akito could felt it when Kagura's curse snapped. So now..."

"Now the rest of you want it to happen too" Arisa stated knowingly.

Momiji nodded.

"Akito did something after that to someone in the zodiac, but no one will tell me what happened. All I know is that Papa doesn't want me visiting Haru or Hatori for a little while, because they live at the main house. I don't mind as long as I can still see Momo, you, and my friends from school."

"Just be careful, will ya" Arisa warned. "I don't want anything to happen to you without me there to help. If someone tries to hurt you, I'll kick their ass no matter who they are."

Momiji chuckled, some of the usual cheer returning to his expression, as he watched her pull a lead pipe seemingly from out of nowhere.

"I don't think even Akito could stand up to a resolve like yours, Arisa" he said. "I bet he'd think you were really intimidating like that."

She patted him on the head and reaffirmed her answer with a definitive nod. There was just no way she would let anyone harm one of the most precious people in her life. None at all.

* * *

Mayuko had taken to visiting her father in the hospital on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as she was now helping her mother run the shop as well as keeping up her teaching job at one of the local high schools. It didn't leave her much time in the week to make the trek to Tokyo General, but she knew she had to manage a check-in at least once every couple of days. Her father, Kimihiro Shiraki, had recently undergone shoulder surgery after he'd managed to aggravate an old kendo injury in the process of rearranging furniture in the book store's back room.

She would often see another man sitting alone in a private room adjacent and wonder at the fact that he had no visitors. Whenever she saw him, he was either sitting alone in the outside gardens set aside for patient recovery in a wheel chair, or doing the same in his room while staring at the skyline outside his window.

Mayuko didn't consider herself a nosy person by any means, but there was something incredibly sad about the man's situation and seeing it bit by bit every day, tugged at something inside her. She'd dated Shigure out of sheer loneliness once and then broken up with him for the same reason. So it was very hard to watch another person being forgotten by their own family, if they had any, and left for so long to feel what must have been that same sense of loneliness.

After the second week of seeing the man, tall, blonde, golden-eyed, with a sorrowful air about him as he sat there beside his hospital bed, Mayu resolved to at least leave the man something to read. She always made sure he was asleep when she left the books in his room. The first time she'd also included a sketchbook and pencil on a whim, to see if he might be more receptive to an activity that involved movement to cut through what must be an extremely monotonous day.

The next time she visited she found the books had been opened and half of them were laying face down and open with several of the pages turned, as if he hadn't been able to decide which he wanted to read through first. On the pad of paper there was a small sketch of a sparrow in flight below a brightly shining sun.

It made her smile to see it and she quietly set a few bookmarks down next to the pile of books on the bed. As she went to leave Mayu thought she heard him mutter something in his sleep.

"Aki...to..."

She almost felt the temptation wait and ask him what it meant, but was rightfully wary of accidentally waking the man and intruding upon his privacy.

_I should get back to Dad_, she thought and once again left the quiet room.

Mayuko found her curiosity piqued when she ended up visiting her father at night the day after she'd given her students midterm exams before winter break, and witnessed Hatori Sohma enter the man's room alone. Seeing him again still made Mayuko's heart wrench slightly, but she was slowly working through her feelings and trying to fall out of love with her best friend's fiancé. Hatori stayed for nearly half an hour, presumably checking on the progress of the man's recovery, and then left as swiftly as he'd come.

_How does he know Hatori?_ Mayuko found herself wondering. _Is he...another member of the Sohma? They've always seemed like such big family...so why...would he be so alone? It doesn't make sense._

* * *

A few nights later Hatori was too busy to make the rounds and check up on Kureno's condition at the hospital as he was now responsible for caring for several family members who'd come down with the flu and an irritable Akito. Akito had put herself into a self-imposed exile and refused to see anyone outside of himself, Shigure, and one of the elderly maids. So he'd talked Shigure into going in his stead. Something Shigure more than a little annoyed about as his dislike for the rooster of the zodiac was still deeply rooted in his jealousy over Kureno's closeness with Akito.

Mind you the current situation between Akito and Kureno could very well have put paid to the intimate nature of their relationship, but Shigure couldn't be sure as the rooster had always been too quick to forgive Akito's childish antics.

Then he witnessed something completely unexpected as he approached Kureno's hospital room. Mayuko Shiraki slipping into Kureno's room with a couple of books and a tiny vase of flowers, white poppies, whose only symbolical meaning was consolation.

_He's fool enough not to deserve any consolation, Mayu dear,_ Shigure thought as he watched her come out of the room again not two minutes later, empty-handed. _Though you may have just given me the leverage I need to crush Akito's fairytale world just a little bit more. Kureno always was so easy to manipulate, because he's willing to sacrifice himself for a worthless cause. The Shiraki bookstore isn't that far a walk from the main house after all..._

Shigure could already tell that Kureno was awake when he entered the room, despite the other man trying to feign sleep, which he suspected was a stunt purely for Mayu's benefit.

"Kagura's curse wasn't the first, was it?" he said moving to sit on the bed adjacent Kureno's chair. "No that was yours. You stayed because she begged you and your pathetic heart couldn't stand to see Akito cry. You're such a coward."

"I am" Kureno acknowledged opening his eyes, "but I would have done anything for that sweet child and I still would."

"She doesn't want you anymore" Shigure replied with an edge of unmistakable frankness. "Akito's locked herself away for now. She doesn't want to see you."

The look on Kureno's face was one of sorrowful regret, but he attempted to smile as he turned to Shigure which only made him seem all the more pathetic in the other's eyes.

"I didn't mean for Akito to...suffer because of me" he said.

"You the fact that your curse broke to yourself, even when you knew that others were suffering" Shigure countered. "I doubt they'd care very much about you if they knew what you'd put them through. Yuki was locked up in the main house for year without any hope at all while Akito had him tied around her little finger."

"They have every right to...I loved her, but that's no excuse is it? Not anymore..."

"I doubt they'll let you back in at this point, you'll have to move into a different part of the main house. I hear there's a bookstore just down the street" Shigure told him with a shadowed expression, colored by a slight amusement at Kureno's own befuddled look in response. "It would be cruel of you not to thank Mayu for bringing you all of these things after all."

"She shouldn't be forced to endure-"

"Then don't. You can start by thinking of someone other than yourself for once."

"I wonder if you're cruel because you care, Shigure" Kureno mused as he turned to stare out the window, "but that's why you've always been able to see what I can't."

* * *

Hatori and Kana worked to care for the rest of their patients until the only one left who truly needed full time care was Akito. The head of the family had managed to contract a strain of pneumonia that was resisting any treatment they gave it. Shigure paid frequent visits to her sickbed, as did Hatori. Although her requests to see Kureno were met silence.

"I promised that child that I'd stay with her" Kureno told them "but I know she won't get better if I stay with her."

"That bond is what's killing her now" Shigure commented, causing Hatori to rap him on the head with his clipboard. "As insensitive as that was, Shigure's right. Akito seems to have done this to herself. I'd rather you didn't set foot in that room, because you're also more prone to getting sick after spending years in that one room in the main house."

Kureno favored him with a mournful cheerless smile, reflected in empty eyes.

"Tell her I still...care deeply about her" he said before turning away leaving the room.

"Are you sending Kana away?" Shigure asked lazily as he watched Hatori reach for a cigarette and swiftly light it. "Like you did the last time Akito asked about her?"

"She doesn't seem to care at the moment. She's...forgotten about Kana" Hatori said, refusing to look him in the eye.

"Oh that's what you did" Shigure said with an expression that would've seemed almost sinister to someone who hadn't truly known him. "I should hate you for that, Hari."

"Then hate me, I refused to sit by and watch her drive the woman I love to madness again" Hatori said, breathing in the harsh smell of smoke.

"No I don't think I will. I want her all to myself and this only gets me one step closer to what I want."

"What about Kureno?"

Shigure's leaned his chin against his now folded hands.

"I've already taken care of that little hurdle. I've given him a new purpose now that he can't go near Akito. He just needs to stop resisting and walk toward it." He told Hatori. "Besides, I know what happened when she met with Yuki. Aya will be grateful you didn't drag him back to the main house instead on Akito's orders."

Hatori let out a breath and bringing the cigarette to his lips again.

"I think you'll find that I'm not as complacent as I used to be, Shigure."

"It's funny you should mention it, Hari, because neither am I."

* * *

When the news of Akito's illness and subsequent temporary quarantine reached the rest of the zodiac a few days after the news about Kagura, they slowly, but surely came out of hiding. Even Kagura found she could finally return home and Rin stopped skipping between Machi's house and the apartment Haru's mother kept for the winter months.

Yuki had already been forced to return to school, but the feeling of dread that had been weighing on him was now finally lifted. Ayame had explained to him that Akito's illness had caused him to think he'd hallucinated Yuki's visit to the main house, so they agreed never to bring it up in the presence of any other family members in the future.

By the time Akito was finally able to leave Hatori's care, Yuki's second year of high school had already begun. Momiji and Hatsuharu had chosen to attend the same school with the latter having Rin and Yuki's presence in mind when he'd taken the entrance exams. While Momiji wanted to be closer to Arisa.

Likewise Kakeru Kuragi and his girlfriend Komaki had welcomed Machi and her friend Kimi Todou into their little group. The younger two worked to encourage Rin to get to know Kakeru better, though she proved to be more open with Komaki who strove to get along with everyone.

* * *

"Kuragi, right?" Momiji asked the girl sitting next to him as the second class of his first day ended.

Machi nodded.

"Do you, mind if I walk with you to class? I don't really...know very many people here just yet."

Machi tilted her head and favored him with a speculative expression. Then she sighed and gestured for him to follow her.

"Kakeru, my brother, showed me around yesterday when he had day duty" she said. "So I know where we're going."

Momiji smiled cheerfully.

"You must get along really well" he noted.

"We...understand each other" Machi answered vaguely. "We're not really like other people."

"I don't mind" Momiji said with a shrug. "Our difference are what make us unique. Some of the best people I know are more than a little strange."

* * *

"A man after my own heart" Kakeru said later, causing Machi to shake her head at him. "You should ask him out Machi, and bring him to the very heart of our strange little world."

Komaki flicked him and then told Machi to get to know him a bit and see what she thought.

"It doesn't hurt to make new friends."

"She's right, you know" Kakeru's mother said, coming into the room. "The two of you should enjoy your school years and keep the company of those who make you feel the happiest."

"Thank...you" Machi replied, resisting the urge to bow her head. She still felt shy in the presence of Ms. Manabe, even though the woman was now more of a parent to her than her real mother had been. "Has she sent any messages for me?"

Kakeru's mother shook her head.

"She's still on trip to Osaka. It's been six months since she's contacted anyone outside of her own staff."

Machi nodded, as a feeling of numbness crept down the back of her neck.

Then she turned away only to have Kakeru come up and wrap his arms around her.

"It'll be okay" he said. "Just don't push us out."

"I'll try" she said as Ms. Manabe patted her on the head.

"We care and we want you with us" Kakeru's mother told her. "Don't ever forget what you mean to us."

_Even if that woman is too blind to see what she's given up._

* * *

"We're taking my cousin Kisa out for ice cream tomorrow, because she's...been having some trouble in school" Momiji told her that Friday. "Arisa's coming too. I want you to meet her."

Machi blinked in response and considered the offer.

"I would...like that" she replied tentatively. "How many people are going to be there?"

"Only a few" Momiji promised. He seemed to have realized her dislike of big crowds. "Kisa she..."

He broke off and his voice lowered to a whisper.

"You can't tell anyone, but she stopped talking. The kids at her school made fun of her because of how she looked and we're trying to find ways to bring her back."

_Oh..._, Machi thought, _that's...what Kakeru's been trying to do isn't it? And Ms. Manabe. I should help this person...because...I know what it's like to feel that alone._

"She eventually had to transfer schools and everything" Momiji finished. "So do you still want to come?"

"You should get her something to hold like...a stuffed animal..." Machi said. "It might make her feel more comfortable and less...alone."

"That's a great idea!" Momiji said jumping up and grabbing her hand. "I'll have to tell Haru! Can you come shopping with me after school?"

Machi nodded, still startled by the unexpected invitation.

"We'll find Kisa the best tiger plushie there is. I'm sure she'll love it!"

* * *

The girls from the Prince Yuki fan club decided they were fed up with two years of being ignored. So they devised a plan to slowly wear down the girls in Yuki's group of friends, Tohru, Arisa, and Saki and convince them to distance themselves from him. Motoko was convinced that Saki Hanajima was the weak link in their plan and that the club needed to confront her as a whole in order to truly gain an advantage.

Saki decided to allow the fan club girls to interview her at her residence under false pretenses, despite her friend's concern about their motivations and Yuki's consummate disbelief. She knew a part of her was more than a little annoyed at the girl's sheer arrogance, and with Megumi's help, managed to unnerve them as much as possible with hints of curses and black magic. It was important, she felt, to send the message that other people's feelings weren't there simply for the fan club to manipulate as they saw fit. Yuki Sohma's in particular.

"I was worried about Tohru" she confessed to Megumi after the Motoko and her companions had fled the house, "but...I was also a bit jealous of Yuki's connection to Kyo. He was my first friend and I suppose I've always...cared for him like a sister. I didn't think I would ever be able to let any of them go, because of the loneliness I would feel if I did, but...after seeing those girls cling to such a selfish wish I think I understand bit better now."

"So you learned something" Megumi stated giving her a tentative look.

Saki nodded.

"Kyo told me once that there were many different people in the world and that he didn't doubt I would find someone 'just as unusual as I was'." Then she glanced back at her brother with a teasing smile. "He said he had high hopes for you, Megumi, because you were 'the stranger of the two'."

"Maybe I need to have that catnip ready again" Megumi said with a matching smile. "I'm sure Ms. Hisano and Kyoko would love more pictures of those cats chasing him around for it."

"I doubt you'll have an easy sneaking it into his pocket, now that he expects it" Saki answered, before turning away as she heard a knock at the door.

She opened it to see Arisa, Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru gathered on her doorstep with concern evident on their faces.

"We were...worried dammit" Kyo said as he leaned against the doorstep.

Saki just stared in surprise.

"How sweet of you" Megumi responded looking up at Kyo, who turned away with some of his usual bashfulness.

"Are you really okay, Hana?" Tohru pressed. "They didn't say anything to hurt you, did they?"

"No, they didn't even stay for snacks" Saki remarked idly. "How very strange..."

Arisa snorted.

"Serves them right" she said as Saki gestured for everyone to come inside, "for thinking we're that easy to mess with."

"I'm sorry we couldn't get here sooner" Yuki informed her. "We were held up. Did they...break anything?"

Saki shook her head.

"I appreciate your concern" she said favoring Yuki with a kind smile, "but all they did was go through some of my things. I'm sure you've had worse."

Yuki gave her a sheepish smile.

"I've been trading lockers with someone every month or so, just to throw them off."

"What do you see in those girls?" Megumi asked Yuki.

"I don't" Yuki told him seriously, "but I can't seem to get rid of them either."

"I could curse them for you...if you tell me how Arisa looked in a miniskirt last week" Megumi replied with straight face and Yuki tried, but failed to decipher whether or not the request was sincere.

"Wait, you don't actually wear one of those to work do ya?" Kyo interrupted.

"I've gotta put money in my pocket somehow, the old man's money only gets us so far" Arisa countered. "What's it to you anyway? You got some type of fetish for that sort of thing?"

"No! I just don't think you should work in a place like that!"

"Yuki didn't seem to have a problem with it. Come to think of it, I bet faint from shock if he ever wore something like that" Arisa said with a grin.

"How did I get involved in this" Yuki wondered aloud as he put a hand to his head in consternation.

"Why the hell would you think that?!"

"Maybe because you nearly had some kind of breakdown that time you got a glimpse of that New Year's kimono."

"No I was busy trying to erase the image of you in that suit. You looked like some type of gangster!"

"You looked like someone out of a movie, Uo" Tohru complimented her. "Ayame even had a hat that went with it perfectly."

"My brother did say he'd be willing to pay you to model for him and Mine once in a while" Yuki said. "I know I wouldn't mind not seeing him in any more of those dresses for very long time. In fact why don't I just take you home with me now, so can be spared the next vision of 'loveliness' my brother gets it in his head to create."

"Hmph, you're out of luck there, _Prince_." Yuki rolled his eyes at her use of his unwanted nickname. "I need my sleep. Though I wouldn't mind taking your brother up on that offer at some point."

"Did he make you something already?" Tohru asked curiously, as she'd suspected this was the case after Yuki told her Mine's sister was getting married next month, and she knew his brother wouldn't have wasted any time in making the three of them new outfits for the occasion.

"Tonight's the final fitting" Yuki admitted. "That's why I was so late, I had to call home and postpone it."

"How fortunate" Saki commented. "Maybe I could accompany you instead, as I wouldn't mind visiting with Mine again."

"I'm not two of you should be allowed in the same room together" Yuki replied sardonically. "You'll only give my brother more encouragement that he doesn't need."

"Ayame's pretty self-sufficient in that way, isn't he?" Tohru said with a sympathetic smile. "Although I'm sure Hana would look great in another one of those dresses."

"That's true" Kyo put in. "I didn't think it was even possible for her to look more like a vampire than she already does."

"What was that, Kyo dear?" Saki asked turning to him, and he felt a chill at the mischievous smile she gave him.

"Nothing" Kyo replied. He knew better than to say anything more, otherwise she might just show up to school the next day with a cape and fangs just to creep him out. The teacher's wouldn't even stop her after the semi-pious explanation she gave them for why everything besides her uniform had to be black. Kyo didn't like to admit it, but the idea of vampires actually did scare him a little bit since he himself was living with the effects of real magic. That meant the possibility of demons, vampires, and other creatures existing wasn't as alien as it should've been. Also, he really really didn't like the idea of vampires being real and wondered idly if that was a cat thing or just a personal preference.

* * *

One weekend when he finally got up the nerve, Kureno found himself cautiously stepping into the doorway of the used book shop owned the family of the young woman who'd been so kind to him during his recovery. He walked up to the desk to see if anyone was there and came face to face with the woman in question.

"It's you" she said. "I mean-how can I help you today?"

"Shigure...that is, my cousin sent me here" Kureno told her, "because I wanted to thank you for everything you did."

"You didn't need to trouble yourself on my account" she answered. Then she seemed to realize that he'd mentioned Shigure and started to grumble something about his meddling in her life under her breath.

"He does have that impression on people" Kureno said, trying to hide a laugh in response to the exasperated expression on her face.

"Oh I'm sorry, he's...we went to school together and sometimes he just gets on my nerves the way he tries to manipulate people" she said folding her arms. Then she turned and offered him a sympathetic smile. "I'm Mayuko by the way, it's nice to finally meet you while you're awake. You seem like you're doing better."

"Yes I...feel much better now that I'm not limited to just one room anymore" Kureno answered, surprising himself with how honestly those words also described his shift in living quarters within the main house. "Would you let me buy you tea or coffee if that's what you'd like? I want to thank you for everything you did."

"You don't have to pay for me" Mayuko said holding up a hand, though she found herself smiling in return, "but I wouldn't mind getting to know you. You seem very...different from your cousins."

"They're certainly much more lively, while I've come to appreciate the quiet more often than not" Kureno said honestly.

"I meant that as a compliment" she added. "Although Hatori's okay and he's Kana's boyfriend, so I couldn't say much anyway."

"You know Kana...Sohma?"

"She's my best friend" Mayu informed him. "Though I only get to see her on off days now, because she's so busy."

Kureno looked thoughtful for a moment.

"She's also a very kind person" he said. "Hatori seems...very happy."

"I'm glad" she replied with a sad smile. "They deserve some happiness."

Kureno thought he saw a flash of something that might have been longing, but in the next instant it'd disappeared again.

"I'll let Mom know that I'm leaving and we'll go" Mayuko said. "Would you like another book to take home with you afterwards?"

"I'll make another visit after I've finished the rest of what you gave me."

_After all,_ he thought. _I'll need an excuse to come back on weekends, because...you're a good person Ms. Mayu and I could grow to like you very much._

* * *

Yuki had already decided, mentally, to encourage Hanajima to completely terrify those fan club girls into temporary insanity the next time he saw her. He was also thinking of paying them back with a few of those fake black roses Ayame kept around for Halloween, and possibly decorating them with drips of eerie green paint to complete the look.

He, Kyo and Tohru had stayed after school to finish their cleaning duties, while everyone except members of school clubs with meetings that day had gone home. They hadn't expected the members of a certain club to try and corner Tohru when they thought she was alone, clearing the outside walkways with a broom.

_"You'd defend this woman, even though she...I'll take something you love, then you see how much this hurts" Motoko had said as she struck out at Kyo. "You were also wearing this back when you rejected me! Did she give it to you, this girl? Do you know how she parades around with that witch like she's better than us."_

_"Wait...aren't they cousins or something?" Minami commented, though it went unheard by her fellow club members._

_"Do you know what that witch tried to do to us when we visited her house that time-?"_

_"Number 2 that's enough...I think we've gone too far this time."_

He'd never seen anyone try to steal Kyo's leather band from his wrist, never mind actually tear it off of him when he held up a hand to stop them from hitting Tohru in a fit of jealousy. Of course Yuki knew that jealousy was aimed more at all of the girls he hung out with collectively, and Motoko's theft of Kyo's wrist band was nothing more than an angry reaction to the other teen stepping up to defend Tohru from an entire group of them. Yuki was more than marginally annoyed that the fan club girls had seen fit to decide who he gave gifts to on white day and had dared to try and take Tohru's away from her.

Motoko had dropped the band in shock as cloud of smoke consumed Kyo and Tohru had rushed up to recover it.

_"Kyo! Kyo wait-" Tohru said the moment the band was off and her cousin started running. "I'll-Please just find a safe place and I'll come and get you!"_

It was fortunate that Kyo had managed to make it into the trees before any of those girls, least of all Motoko managed to see his full transformation into what could only be the cat's true form. A transformation that had shocked Yuki along with the ensuing smell of decay, but worried Tohru, who was now following behind Yuki as he ran through the trees in pursuit of his friend. The person he now knew was actually the missing cat of the zodiac and, if Yuki was honest with himself, one of the most important people in his life.

Someone who was now out there in frigidly cold weather in nothing but the pants from his school uniform, as the change had all but shredded his winter coat and shirt. Kyo's now enlarged and gnarled feet had also been bare when he'd fled the nearly empty school yard. Yuki had only heard faint descriptions of what the cat's true form looked like and nothing at all pertaining to how it was effected by the cold weather.

_Wait..._

_That's why he understood it all so well..._

_He...knew everything..._

_Because he'd lived it..._

Yuki let out a shaky breath and increased his pace. He had to find his friend as quickly as possible and let him know that he finally understood after all this time why Kyo had been so careful with him, had understood the fears and concerns Yuki had held about his deepest secrets.

* * *

Kyo ran as fast as he could, while the pain of the transformation spiraled through him, and all of his anxieties about his true form came surging back. Now Yuki and possibly those girls had seen what he really was.

_Mom...Grandfather...Aunt Kyoko...my family might be able to accept me like this, but no one else will. Especially not...someone like..._

"Wait Kyo!"

_...Yuki._

He'd stopped at clearing just to get his bearing, but as soon as he heard Yuki's voice he'd automatically readied himself to bolt in the opposite direction.

_I can't let him see me like this._

"Don't run from us!" He heard Yuki yell after him "I'm...so...tired...of...running! That's the reason I went with my brother, even when I thought he was going to use me. I just wanted to get away!"

That made Kyo pause slightly and turned toward him.

Yuki took to opportunity to leap forward and grab Kyo's leg in an effort to hold him in place. Kyo lashed out instinctively in reaction, but his friend held on.

"Kyo! It's alright! Just...let me find you!" Tohru called from a short distance away.

_Please don't let him be hurt,_ she thought, hurrying through the underbrush.

Kyo continued to struggle in Yuki's hold, as the other teen managed to wrap himself firmly around Kyo's left leg. He roared in response and thrashed some more.

"I don't care if you're the cat...or even that this is what you can turn into...I just want you to stop running, so _I_ can stop running too!"

The sound of Yuki's plea caught his ears and this time Kyo stopped moving completely to stare down at his friend.

_Why...why would you...?_

Yuki seemed to realize the question the unasked in Kyo's eyes and responded.

"Because in case you haven't noticed, I _care_ about you, Kyo. More than as just a friend..."

Kyo remained frozen in place, though he was now trembling slightly, as if in fear and perhaps hope. Yuki took a deep breath before reaching for Kyo's clawed hand and using it as leverage to pull himself up, so that the two of them were face to face.

"I mean it, more than I've ever meant anything...I won't...I won't leave you alone" Yuki told him, before bringing his lips to meet Kyo's now altered mouth. The effect was instantaneous and Yuki felt himself fall to the ground as Kyo transformed back completely to his human form.

Yuki looked up to see Kyo holding out a hand to help him up, there was a smile on his face with more tenderness in it than Yuki had ever seen his friend show before.

"I...like you too, Yuki. Don't forget that...you're not just the rat either."

Yuki smiled ironically, as he took the proffered hand.

"You knew about that."

"I knew you were cursed too, but my mother knew who you were." Kyo confessed as he lifted the other teen to his feet, before wrapping an arm around Yuki's waist and drawing him closer. Yuki gasped in response as Kyo kissed him back. "I got to know you first and decided that it didn't matter."

"Not many people would agree with your assessment-" Yuki started to reply, before he felt a sudden jolt go through him. A vision of the rat fading away entered his mind and he realized, albeit a bit sorrowfully, that his curse had just broken. Yuki turned to look at his companion and knew by the shocked expression on Kyo's face that the same had just happened to him as well.

"That's it, isn't it?" Kyo said in awe. "We're free."

He turned to see a smiling Tohru watching them from beside a nearby tree, clearly not wanting to interrupt the moment. Although Kyo swore he would hug her later, along with his Aunt Kyoko, and relish the fact that he could do it without turning into a cat.

"I'm glad you're alright" she said with a relieved smile and took the opportunity to come and wrap her coat around his bare shoulders.

"Never better" Kyo replied gratefully. "Now that I'm not freezing my tail off."

"Not that you actually have one anymore" Yuki reminded him with teasing expression.

Tohru just kept smiling and Kyo knew she'd heard everything that had been said. There would be time for further explanations later, but for now the three of them could just enjoy the moment.

* * *

At the same moment when Kyo fled the school yard, Shigure had found himself trudging up the ledge several meters behind his house after the woman he loved. He'd known Akito would eventually learn about Kureno's daily walks from the staff at the main house, and as predicted Akito decided to follow the rooster of the zodiac the very next day when the clock struck one.

Kureno had been making frequent visits to the Shiraki bookshop and that on days when Mayuko was teaching class, he instead went walking in the forested land owned by the Sohma that lay between the main house and Shigure's residence. There was a spectacular view to behold at the top of an overhanging rocky ledge at the edge of the trees on Shigure's side of the property, and it was that very embankment that Akito was now edging up in search of lost companion.

Unfortunately Akito had also brought her father's knife with her, something that worried Shigure slight as the death of another zodiac member didn't fit at all well into his plans. He hadn't expected her come all the way out here to attempt anything so extreme and was doubly concerned about her walking so close to the edge of the crag. There had already been one serious landslide earlier that year and his doglike senses told him that with the instability of the ground here, the brink of the ledge could decide to give way again at any time.

Then his ears picked up a familiar set of voices. It seemed Akito had found Kureno after all.

"I can't go back with you" Kureno was saying, his tone deeply colored with regret. "It's my fault that you've locked yourself away for so long."

"That's what I wanted...I don't-I don't need the outside world" Akito countered. "You said you'd never leave me!"

"I've realized that if I stay with you, you'll be ill at heart" he confessed and Akito's eyes narrowed and she moved to walk toward him.

Then the ground gave way and Shigure managed to shove Akito out of the way before it edge of it completely collapsed beneath him. All he heard was the sound of Akito's screams for help as he fell into a darkened oblivion.

* * *

Kureno ran to get help as Akito climbed down and tried to do what she could to uncover Shigure and see how badly he'd been injured.

Fifteen minutes later, help finally arrived from the main house led by Hatori, who couldn't help but look at Akito with barely concealed anger. Besides Kana, Ayame and Shigure were two of the most important people in his life, even his connection to Akito hadn't been able to alter their place in his heart.

"I didn't-it wasn't my fault! I didn't do this! Shigure pushed me away when the ground slid away!" Akito cried defensively.

Hatori studied the condition of the ledge for several moments, before glancing down at Shigure while the house staff lifted him onto a stretcher. Then he favored the head of the family a measured look.

"His injuries seem consistent" he agreed. "What were you doing up here, Akito? You've only just recovered to full strength."

"You were keeping him from me" Akito replied accusingly, "Kureno belongs to me."

Hatori raised an eyebrow.

"It was for his health, in case you've forgotten" the doctor countered, then he turned away. "Kureno is no longer a part of the zodiac, so he can go where he chooses."

"He told you-"

"No, Shigure figured it out" he said before walking away, leaving one of the maids to tend to Akito, while he prepared himself for what the news of Shigure's prognosis might be.

It wasn't until he reached the main house that Hatori felt something break inside of him and realized that he too was finally free. Though found he was saddened by the loss of the dragon spirit as they'd been together his entire life.

Kana came out to meet him as he passed by their residence.

"Hatori, what's wrong?"

"There's been a landslide" Hatori replied, "Shigure was injured while helping Akito."

"I'll get your things" she said immediately registering the urgency of the situation and hurrying away.

"There's something else..." he said, halting her retreat up the walkway.

"Did you forget-" Kana cut herself off when she saw Hatori step toward her and wrap his arms around her. She waited for the transformation, but it never came.

"It's broken...That's wonderful, Hatori! Now we can-Oh I should get your things for the hospital."

Hatori chuckled lightly as she cheerfully scrambled away to grab his things.

_Now if only Shigure would pull through, the idiot._

* * *

Yuki returned home that afternoon to the news that Shigure had been injured in an accident, while trying to help a still recovering Akito. He was immediately suspicious of the circumstances behind such an occurrence, but without knowing the fully story, Yuki felt he couldn't consciously place any blame. At least not yet. Fortunately Shigure was already safely being cared for by Hatori at one of the local hospitals.

As Ayame related the story to him, Yuki noticed that his brother had an arm around Mine and in a way that normally would have caused him to transform by now.

"It broke your curse too..." Yuki mused thoughtfully, as he brought a hand up to the bridge of his nose.

Then he realized that Ayame had stopped talking and that his brother and Mine were now looking back at him curiously.

"Did something happen at school today?" Mine asked with concern, as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's...hard to explain" Yuki replied nervously. After years of living with his brother, he'd managed to discern that the man had told Mine about their curse. She'd always been extra careful when in close quarters with either of them and seemed to take any of Yuki's own self-proclaimed personality flaws in stride. Of course, her intimate relationship with his brother had been evident since the first year of Yuki's residence at the apartment. Despite any of this Yuki still felt awkward mentioning the curse to her now, even though it had finally been broken. For himself and Ayame at least.

"I suspect there's a story here, Yuki. Is there something you'd like to tell me?" Ayame said, his golden eyes taking on amused glint. "Why don't you do it over tea. After all, the best tales are told when one is cozily sipping a finely cultured brew of some kind."

Mine put a sign on the door and closed up the shop for lunch, while Ayame insisted on setting up the tea things gesturing for Yuki to stand and wait as if he were a guest. After everything was set up, the three of them sat down to tea in the back room and Yuki told them the story as best he could without blushing or turning away to search for the right words.

Ayame managed to sit through the entire story, only making a few light comments, before breaking into a monologue about love conquering all after Yuki finished. Even praising his brother for somehow finding the missing Cat of the zodiac and bringing his "terribly lonely life" some light with just one kiss.

Yuki looked pleadingly at Mine, who stared back at him with a small smile. She almost seemed...proud of him in some way.

"It's nice really, finding someone who can understand you" Mine said, cutting through his brother's speech. "I'm glad you found that person, Yuki."

He smile gratefully at her.

Then her expression turned slightly mischievous.

"Although...now that he's going to be a member of the family, we simply have to make him some suitable New Year's attire to match yours" Mine added.

"You're right!" Ayame put in. "We'll have to start on it right away! I think a lovely shade of crimson would offset the black-"

"-a bit of orange with a white contour..." Mine proposed.

Yuki sighed and rested his head in his hands. He was going to have to somehow bribe Kyo to come to the shop and take their "creation" home with him. There was just the matter of getting him away before Mine managed to wrangle him into trying it on.

Then an image of Kyo in the garment much like Yuki's own kimono flashed in his mind, and Yuki decided that it might not be such awful idea...not he if he got to see Kyo dressed that way. Yuki found himself smiling slightly. It _was_ likely a once in a lifetime opportunity.

* * *

"That thing is not my son!" Tanjiro Sohma told the court officers in front of him. "He's a monster! Just look at what happens when his own mother tries to hold him."

Hisako sighed in a purposefully exasperated tone and wrapped her arms around her son. Everyone in the room noted the lack of any physical or obvious mental change in Kyo and subsequently raised an eyebrow in response to his father's continued apparently delusional explanation of his familial estrangement.

Tanjiro quieted down as he felt their stares and noticed that consequence of Kyo's curse hadn't taken effect like it should have.

"Mr. Sohma, I believe we've heard enough." The magistrate said holding up a hand for silence. "We've decided to grant your wife's request on the condition that she only receive what is legally due her son from the Sohma estate. You, Mr. Sohma, are to have no further contact with your ex-wife or son on penalty of having the waved charges being brought against you once more."

The knot in Hisako's chest had finally eased itself by the time the court session was over and for the first time in more than a decade, she felt like a free woman again.

Kazuma had already forgiven her and confessed that he'd been suspicious of Kyo's identity for years, explaining that his own grandfather had been the previous cat. He'd understood all too well what Kyo's life would have been like under the rule of the Sohma main house and helped her file the necessary paperwork needed to finally separate her from her marriage to Tanjiro.

_"The main house is still in disarray after and Akito can make no move to stop you with Kyo no longer cursed" Kazuma had said. "I suspect, from what you've told me, that your husband has become more of a financial burden to them. The only other purpose he could've served would have been in helping to keep news of the cat's confinement from reaching anyone on the outside."_

_"Just as I'd always feared" Hisako confirmed. "With or without my consent, Tanjiro would have seen our son live out his life in a cell to bear the blame of everyone's faults. I should have left that man by the roadside where I found him years ago...beaten down by the sharks he'd swindled from."_

Hisako had also begun to communicate with her mother again over the phone. She'd also planned to visit her later that year to ensure her health and living situation. Himeko Mizushima had suspected her anonymous stipend had come from her daughter and wisely saved what she could to use for later medical care. She'd chosen to accept Hisako's divorce with as much grace as she could manage and seemed pleased to hear that Kyo had grown up to be a normal young man, as he was her only grandchild. This eased Hisako's worry, as did Himeko's interest in eventually meeting Kyo and even Kazuma.

* * *

"So you are a man" Mitsuru said wonderingly. "I-I'd hoped that was the case."

"I'm so sorry I fooled you! I should have said from the start-I should-!"

Mitsuru put a hand on Ritsu's shoulder to calm him.

"Tha-That's not what I meant. I wouldn't have cared either way, because...it's you I like Ritsu. Gender, doesn't matter as much as the person themselves."

Ritsu deflated marginally, feeling just a bit relieved.

"You're not angry? I'm the one who tricked you by wearing women's clothing and then not telling you that I was a man, while still asking you to go out to tea with me so many times and-"

"I doubt it was intentional" Mitsuru told him, "because I don't think you could intentionally harm anyone."

"Well that's...not entirely true" Ritsu admitted turning so that his bangs overshadowed her view of his eyes.

Mitsuru sighed.

"Acting to defend your family or your home doesn't count, those are natural instincts" she amended. "You don't always have to apologize to me or other people. Some people...your parent's friends included, need to learn to let things go."

"Then you don't mind how I look in...this?" Ritsu asked cautiously, gesturing to his women's kimono.

"No I don't" Mitsuru said, giving him a small smile. "I wouldn't be going out with you if I did. That is...if that's what you meant by asking me out to tea all those times?"

Ritsu's eyes grew wide. He'd been trying to work up the courage to ask her on a real date ever since the first time they'd had tea together.

"Yes" he said with a gulp, "but if that isn't what you want, just say so and I'll go away."

"I want that very much" Mitsuru told him reaching out to grasp one of Ritsu's hands shyly. "I don't even mind that you look better in furisode than I do."

"I don't really think...that is...you would look beautiful in it, Ms-Mitsuru" he said, as a blush filtered across his cheeks.

* * *

"I'm glad you're here Akito...or at least a version of you" Shigure murmured as Akito approached his hospital bed under Hatori's watchful eye.

"Why would you ask for me and not...for that woman? They've all left me! So why wouldn't you slither away like the rest" Akito responded accusingly.

"I don't want to leave" Shigure answered idly staring up at the ceiling. "Even with the curse broke, there just doesn't seem to be any point."

"So my misery is entertainment for you now?!"

"No, but I will enjoy having your company less obstructed by unimportant people from now on." Shigure said pointedly.

"I can do what I wish with _my_ zodiac" Akito countered.

"They don't belong to you anymore and you haven't done anything to make them want to return to you" he informed her.

"Why does someone like you care then? I'm sure you're just waiting for the chance to spend the night with Ren, now that there's nothing keeping you out..."

Shigure shook his head.

"Once I get it in my head that something belongs to me...I find that I can't let go of it" he said, putting a hand to her waist. "That person to me...isn't Ren. It's you, Akito. You can run from me, if you wish. Leave right now and I'll let you."

Then he moved his hand up to her face, bringing his own sharp eyes closer to hers.

"But if you come to me again...I'm going to hold on with an iron grip to what's right there in front of me."

"You expect me to believe that after everything you've said to me...after what you did with _that woman_..."

"I'm simply telling you the honest truth" Shigure said, his eyes darkening as he felt Akito grip the color of his hospital garb.

"Prove it to me by staying longer than anyone, by staying only mine" Akito demanded with a tug of her hand, forcing his lips up to meet her own.

Hatori sighed in disbelief as he watched the exchange. In truth he was a bit relieved that it was all finally over. The last of the zodiac curses had broken the day before and now Kisa was finally talking again with Momiji's help. She and Hiro had even renewed their friendship, only hours before becoming free of the curse, and would now able to live out the rest of their school days with a semblance of normalcy. Kisa had also grown quite fond of Momiji's little sister, Momo. The two of them had taken to following Momiji's friend Arisa like baby ducklings during family visits, much to her amusement.

He was also surprised to find Momiji also seemed to have a girlfriend, by the name of Machi Kuragi, a friend of Rin's, something that had greatly surprised Hatori. Izuzu's own relationship with Hatsuharu seemed to be more out in the open, following Kagura's subsequent return from abroad with Kazuma's assistant, now that they no longer feared retribution from the main house.

Hatori's own plans consisted of marrying Kana within the next few months, after Shigure was finally discharged from the hospital. His fears about Akito remembering past events appeared to be unfounded, as she showed no recollection about her last meeting with Kana or her actions toward Yuki a few months before, so evidently the dragon's power was still in effect despite his curse having been broken. They'd have to inform his parents and Kana's, along with Ayame, Shigure, and Mayuko about their plans before they had an actual ceremony, but it felt like his relationship with Kana was finally progressing as it was meant to.

Although Hatori was already anticipating the inevitable phone call from Ayame about brightly colored kimonos with flaming dragons on them...to be accompanied by undergarments with the same _elegant_ design on them, while patiently planning swift and effective retribution for his pains.

* * *

The Hondas had been very quick to except Yuki into their fold, as the adults had often worried about the complications that might be involved if Kyo were ever to attempt any type of relationship with anyone. Although they had been greatly surprised to find out that Yuki had found out the truth about Kyo's curse and had in fact been the one to help break it.

Their friends had much the same reaction...except for Hanajima.

"Megumi will be devastated that you can no longer appreciate his efforts to find you the very best catnip, Kyo" Saki told him with an amused smile. "Although Yuki might still be able to get some use out of it."

"Where the hell did that come from?!" Kyo responded with a flustered expression, which only caused Hanajima to laugh at him more.

Yuki turned away to hide a blush and an amused smile of his own.

"It makes sense now, why your Mom was always so quiet about your father's family" Arisa mused" and to think I had no idea you were under the same curse as Momiji."

"Wait, he told you about it?" Yuki exclaimed, nearly in shock.

"It just...happened, I guess. He needed someone to talk to after his mother..." Arisa replied vaguely, using her hand to emphasize what she left out.

Yuki's eyes took on a serious glint and he nodded, taking in the implied explanation for Momiji's own exaggerated cheerfulness as a way to hide his own unfathomable feelings of loneliness and sorrow.

For their part Hatsuharu and Momiji were surprised to learn that Yuki was in a relationship and with a guy no less.

"So lemme get this straight, you spend how many years hanging out with three girls and one guy...and you fall for the guy instead?" Hatsuharu asked, with his own calm blend of surprise.

"Hey, Arisa told me he was cursed like us...wouldn't that make him-" Momiji started.

"Wait, you're dating the Cat?!" Hatsuharu cut in. Then he let out a whistle of disbelief. "You certainly don't do things by halves, Yuki. Maybe that brother of yours did rub off on you."

"Somehow I doubt that" Yuki replied sardonically.

"But I thought the Cat was dead?" Momiji piped up. Then he narrowed his eyes slightly. "That means Akito lied about him."

"It's a long story" Yuki told him.

"That figures doesn't it?" Hatsuharu replied. "He would've had it worse than anyone and the main house didn't like the idea of someone living on the outside against their wishes."

"We're free though...now that our curse is broken" Momiji said. "So is he. It feels...strange now that it's gone...and so's Momma...like there's something we can't get back."

"The curse was more trouble than it was worth" Yuki said, "like the reason it existed wasn't there anymore..."

* * *

When Hatori and Kana finally did marry, Hatori was a witness to the end result of another of Shigure's devious, but well-meaning machinations in the form of Mayuko's Shiraki's relationship with a newly liberated Kureno. The high school teacher had managed a sardonic remark to every one of Shigure's pointedly teasing comments about her date.

Shigure had also apparently unintentionally introduced Ritsu to his editor Mitsuru Higurashi, both of whom seemed to have developed a slow, but no less devoted romantic entanglement to one another. It seemed the next generation of the Sohma family was destined to be no less interesting than the last.

The most surprising thing though, was when Yuki showed up with a date of his own. A young man with suspiciously crimson eyes and a wary expression.

Even though Momiji had informed him that the boy Yuki was involved with had actually been the Cat of the zodiac, Hatori found it difficult to believe that this same young man was the one he'd helped deliver all those years ago, and the three-year-old child he'd been when he'd disappeared.

Although, now that the newly resurfaced Hisako Sohma had filed for divorce against her husband and won, it further proved the legitimacy of Kyo's newly revealed identity. The Sohma clan hadn't been able to deny them restitution, since they hadn't actually been able to change Kyo's living status years before, despite Akito's wishes.

Akito herself now having resumed her role as the head of the family in a quiet, but cold manner. Despite her newly developed relationship with Shigure, she seemed to still be grappling with the fact that she now had no power over the zodiac than the other members of the family. Without the curse to hold them, the formerly cursed Sohmas could do as they pleased with or without the family money.

Oh she had raged about the Cat's reappearance seemingly amongst the living after all these years, but with Tanjiro Sohma's humiliating episode in front of the local magistrates, there was little she could do to reign Kyo in without inferring the suspicious eyes of the government. There had been a time when the Sohmas had had more power with the local authorities and politicians, but that had faded in recent decades, as the clan had become more insular about the nature of the zodiac itself. Akira Sohma's own isolation had also proved to distance the Sohma from some of their former contacts.

Now that Kyo Sohma was eighteen and considered an adult in the eyes of the government, Akito couldn't even claim custody of him and was forced to settle for disapproving of Kazuma's relationship with Tanjiro's ex-wife. Though disowning Kazuma himself would have proven incredibly difficult, considering his standing amongst other members of the family. Akito would have to settle for withholding permission from Kazuma should he decide to marry Hisako any time in the future. Low opinion that Akito had of her, Kazuma was known for having a kind heart and the head of the family was forced to assume that Kazuma would feel the need to take in the Cat's mother out of pity, because of his own family history.

What Akito didn't know was that Kazuma had already planned for this eventuality and taken the time to overshadow a few assets and have the deed to the dojo rewritten, within weeks of the curse breaking and the finalization of Hisako's divorce. His time as an instructor had caused him to be quite a bit more perceptive than many of his family had realized.

"Yuki does know how to pick them, doesn't he?" Shigure said with a deceptively cheerful smile. "Not to mention those high school girls Momiji brought with him."

Hatori raised an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't you be keeping your own date company, Shigure."

"I just had to see what Aya's knew brother-in-law looked like" Shigure told him. "I couldn't believe Yuki had given up women."

"It's hard to give up something you were never interested in, in the first place" Hatori countered.

"Quite right" Ayame said as he approached them. "Nothing can compare to my dear little brother's brilliance and beauty in the eyes of young men everywhere!"

"And what about you, Aya?" Shigure asked innocently.

"Why Shigure, you know I only have eyes for you" he replied.

"Don't you ever quit it?" Hatori asked rhetorically as he let out an exasperated sigh.

* * *

"I don't even remember your name" Kyo said quietly as he approached Kagura, where she sat alone for the moment, while her date was off getting drinks.

She turned to Kyo with a puzzled expression on her face, before she noticed the color of his eyes.

"Are you-?"

Kyo nodded.

"I thought you might remember me" he said. "I just wanted to thank you for playing with me a long time ago."

"I'm glad you're...alive" Kagura replied as she felt tears well up in her eyes. "I used to hope that you were."

"I'm still here" Kyo told her as she reached up and hugged him. "I didn't actually go all that far away."

* * *

A few weeks later Tokihiko received a visit from his grandson, Hiroshi. Hisako set up their tea things in the sitting room and then went to finish her usual preparations for dinner.

"You can't tell me you're just going to accept this?" Hiroshi asked, idly shifting his glasses back into place with one finger. "That boy has been given too much freedom and I think it's time you finally-"

Tokihiko cut him off by shaking his head.

"My grandson has found someone whom he cares a great deal about" he replied. "I continue to wish for the same for you, Tohru and Rumiko in the future."

The sound of footsteps, they presumed to be Hisako's echoed down the hallway.

"That's another thing, are you really going to let him stay after he threw Tohru over like that?" Hiroshi inquired. "How foolish. Wasn't the arrangement that he and his mother could stay here provided he married Tohru in the end?"

Sensing that someone was there in the doorway, presumably Hisako, Hiroshi expression became one of condescension as he prepared to make some idle remark about the tea she'd brewed. However, when he turned around, he came face to face with his uncle, Katsuya Honda instead.

"I've never made any type of agreement involving my daughter" Katsuya said pointedly, raising an eyebrow. "Kyo had always been free to care about whomever he wanted."

"I hardly think you'd approve of him having relations with another man" his nephew stated.

"On the contrary, I think Yuki would make a fine addition someday, provided that he and Kyo decide that's what they want" Katsuya answered. "I think a person's personal happiness is no one's business, but their own."

Hiroshi snorted derisively, but said nothing more on the subject. He remained convinced that his mother's family continued to have no sense of propriety.

* * *

The third year of high school came and went very quickly for each of them, with the three girls opting to move out and live in an apartment together after graduation. Arisa had already been admitted into junior college, while Saki and Tohru had already been accepted into the same university the boys planning to attend. Hisako had also become engaged to Kazuma shortly after Kyo turned eighteen with plans to marry him within the following year.

Tokihiko expressed great joy at this development and made his own plans sell his house and move in with Kyoko and Katsuya after the event, since Kyo himself had already moved into student housing at the university he, Yuki, Saki and Tohru would be attending.

"_Aren't you going to miss me, my prince?" Hanajima said hiding an amused snicker behind her hand._

"_You're never going to let that go, are you Hana?" Kyo answered with a raised eyebrow. "The one time our class tries to do something original and they come up with 'Cinderella'."_

"_But Yuki and Kakeru made such lovely little mice" Hanajima reminded him._

"_I think being something even smaller than a rat may have been a blow to Yuki's pride." Kyo said with a snort._

"_Worse than playing the fairy godmother?"_

"_Not quite that bad."_

* * *

Two weeks after graduation Kyo and Yuki took a trip together, just the two of them. They went to a small inn in Yokohama, decided to sight see what they could, and enjoy each other's company in the meantime.

The first night of their visit started out as a tired back and forth between the two of them, before they remembered they were finally able to share a futon, and the situation quickly devolved into tentative touch followed by nervously whispered queries.

Then Kyo began to feel a little brave and moved his hand much lower than he normally would have on Yuki's body. Seeing Yuki's surprised, but pleased expression, Kyo moved his hand, dipping it beneath the soft clothing, and began to stroke.

Yuki began to move, almost writhing slightly, as his heart sped with excitement as the attention Kyo was giving him, causing his breath to shorten and his senses to become overwhelmed with the intricate back and forth motion of Kyo's fingers. Little murmurs of pleasure and encouragement falling from his lips in reaction to each movement. When the feeling finally became too much for his mind to bear, his body reacted by finally giving in to its release in the form of a satisfying but intense convulsion, while his mind was staid by a pleasantly hazy vision of white beneath his eyelids.

After Yuki recovered his senses he resolved to pay his companion back by using his tongue instead of his hand, an action that swiftly sent Kyo into fuzzy paroxysms of trembling and left him desperately pleading for more of Yuki's was doing to him. When it seemed that he was near the end of his cord, Yuki pulled back and began to caress away the last of Kyo's mental restraints, causing him to be drawn in by the irresistible feeling of release.

In retrospect Yuki should have known that even this level of activity hadn't completely worn Kyo out, as five minutes later when he lay there staring dazedly at the other teen, he suddenly felt hand pulling his clothing down further. Then Kyo's face disappeared from his vision and felt a warm tongue begin to curl itself around the particularly reactive lower part of his body, slowly teasing away his awareness in a the flutter of a pleasurable haze.

* * *

When they returned home from their first year at University, Tohru, Kyo and Yuki were greeted to the news that Hisako was pregnant with a little girl, only a few short months into her marriage to Kazuma. Their surprise at that was only dulled by Tohru's revelation that Saki had managed to find a fellow clairvoyant in one of her classes and Megumi had actually grown nearly a foot taller in the time that they'd seen him last.

They all continued to grow and change, eventually finding places of their own to settle. Arisa became the favorite aunt of Machi and Momiji's children, with Tohru and Saki eventually having families of their own.

Kyo and Yuki decided to stay together after they finished their education and came to live within a block's radius of Ayame's shop. Preferring to divide their time between home, work, and weekend activities involving either Tohru's or Ayame and Mine's growing families.

_One fractured bond had slowly but surely led to an inestimable web of possibility._

* * *

***Notes:** Well, there you have it. Not the most cohesive story in the world, but I did enjoy writing it and researching all the little odds and ends the manga gave us. ;)

The pairings sort of came about on their own as I was writing the story. Certain characters were "left out" of social or romantic plotlines because of the changed timeline, so I tried to think of alternative events for them and…certain characters just stuck out at me. There always seem to be a group of characters in a set universe that could potentially have interesting interactions/friendships/relationships if given the chance. Though some of them, like Kureno, only show up when given the chance, sometimes after years of storyline have already gone by. XD So they rarely get a chance to build multiple relationships with the cast as their presence is limited and, often subject to particular circumstances that allow for them to appear at a given place and event. In Kureno's case this amounted to "Akito's whims" and following her around for most of his part of the manga. He wouldn't really have had a chance to interact with someone like Mayuko under normal cannononical circumstances.

The same goes for Machi, though she had much wider roll in the manga.

Anyway, I like to thank all of you for your kind reviews. They made my day! I realize that this was a hereto untested AU for Fruits Basket, something that's bound to have an unpredictable storyline and a risk factor to reading it. So I appreciate you taking the time to take a chance on this story.

Hope you all have an awesome autumn! And Halloween (if you celebrate it)! Nice meeting you all. ;)


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